


Spirit of Halloween

by VideoPlay5178



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 23:04:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 22,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6028750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VideoPlay5178/pseuds/VideoPlay5178
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This job was supposed to be simple, but he didn't know such a creature would be so hard to destroy or that he would become the new one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Spirit of Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> There are some scary parts of this, but not the entire thing.
> 
> This is the full story of the 8th, 19th, and 27th chapters of my 31 Days of Halloween Work, please go check that out if you haven't already!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

            Ryan had been paid to hunt down many monsters and witches. He was the best in the business. He could find that monster, witch, demon, or spirit with one hundred percent accuracy. That’s how he advertised himself, anyway. In truth, a few innocents had burned and a few creatures slipped away, but he was only one man and that was when he first began.

            He was much better now. He knew the signs, could count the symptoms. No one else knew as much as he did. That was the truth. He could tell a witch by the way they acted and the way they talked. Fakes took things over the top, they were _too_ good. The real ones made mistakes, they slipped although they would never confess.

            Monsters were easier. They had no human form, nor anything human about them. They were hideous creatures with too much fur or teeth. They always had blood trails and hid in obvious places. Spirits were just as bad. They were dead and angry. Who wouldn’t be?

            Other hunters had less success. Burned more innocents than anyone would like to count. He wasn’t sure why they were so bad. If they ever bothered to study the true creatures when they caught them, they’d know a thing or two. Instead they went in blindly and came out exactly the same maybe with a little more blood on their hands and the true monster gone to the next town.

            He had experience in every type of ghoul and creature. He had successful eradicated at least one of each. Of course, new monsters and spirits, real and fake, would appear all of the time, so he never tried to think one case was just like the last.

            This case, however, was the strangest of them all. “A skeleton?” Ryan said slowly, frowning at the Bishop of Liverpool.

            “Yes a skeleton!” the short man huffed. He was dwarfed in his big, cushioned, wooden chair, toes barely brushing the ground. The chair was up higher than normal, gold lining all of the threads and edges. “He’s been walking around killing people!”

            Ryan frowned, glancing down at the clean, wide desk separating them. As much as people thought the dead could rise again, Ryan had never experienced such a thing. There had been many witches who tried and all of them had failed. Vampires were actually alive, they just had a strange diet, and some were actually quite nice. He was friends with them. That never stopped people from stuffing bricks into the dead’s mouths, however.

            “Well?” the Bishop snapped, crossing his pudgy arms over his chest, “are you going to do anything about this?”

            Ryan sighed and smiled politely at the Bishop. “I will do what I can,” he said, standing from the hard wooden chair the Bishop had him drag over to the desk. “I will have to take some time finding out as much as I can.”

            “Do what you must,” the Bishop said, waving him away, “you won’t get paid until it is dead.”

            Ryan withheld another sigh, smiled politely, nodded, and then left. He rolled his eyes once the heavy wooden door closed behind him. He guessed that, in about a week, the Bishop would be up his ass, demanding to know why this skeleton wasn’t dead yet.

            Ryan would bite his tongue and would nod along, promising that he would take care of everything with time. He knew, by this point, telling him that he would need at least a month would neither stop his bitching nor calm him. These things took time.

            Ryan took a deep breath and pushed out of the cathedral doors. The cobblestone streets of Liverpool were packed with people in dark, dirty clothes. The few who could afford the luxury of umbrellas walked the empty sidewalks while those who couldn’t tried not to be run over by horses or carts.

            Ryan slipped in among the masses, his long, black coat pulled tight around him against the chill of October. A head taller than most of the people around him, he could see the looks groups shot his way. Half of them already trusted him while the other half planned his funeral pyre if he so much as looked at them the wrong way. So, nothing new, for him at least.

            His first week was spent gathering as much information he could about this skeleton, when it appeared, who it killed, how it killed, where were the dead, what were the firsthand accounts. Although he gathered much of the information within the first two days, he had to weed through the rumors, second, third, and forth hand accounts, and half-truths to figure out what was truly going on.

            Exactly a week after his conversation with the Bishop, a young altar boy ran up to him in his white robes and handed over a crisp letter. As the boy ran off, Ryan unfolded the letter and sighed. Leaving the cemetery he had been inspecting as the supposed home of the skeleton, he went back to the tall cathedral with spiraling points and judgmental statues.

            “What’s taking so long?” the Bishop demanded before Ryan could even cross the threshold into his office. “That thing is still out there!”

            “I’ve been working as quickly as I can,” Ryan said carefully. If he bit his tongue any harder than that, he would be spitting blood. “I shall be attempting to capture the skeleton tonight.”

            The Bishop pressed his lips into a tight line before waving Ryan away. Shaking his head, Ryan quietly slipped from the cathedral and returned to the cemetery. That night he looked over his notes, crossing out anything that had to do with the cemetery. In the morning, he sent the Bishop a note stating that he had been unsuccessful and trying again that night.

            Three weeks into his stay, he stopped sending the Bishop notes and the Bishop stopped sending for him. There was a mutual understanding that would shatter sooner rather than latter so Ryan began to wonder the cold, wet streets at night.

            The skeleton appeared at random. It would snatch people up and tear them limb from limb. Once it chased a woman into her shop where she had gourds and it refused to follow. A few people had placed gourds in front of their homes or carried them with them at night and weren’t touched.

            Ryan wasn’t so sure that gourds were keeping the skeleton away as much as luck, but the people were comforted so he let them be. Instead he focused on the firsthand accounts of the creature snatching people from the darkness.

            According to one man, he saw the skeleton emerge from the short shadow of a building, like it was dragging itself free from the darkness. Another woman saw something similar, the skeleton rising up from its victim’s shadow.

            A few stories claimed that the skeleton could change its shape. One child saw, through his bedroom window, the skeleton emerge from the shadows, change its hands into the claws of a bear, and slice a woman apart. When Ryan found the woman’s body, he got the churches permission to uncover her grave. She was truly in pieces, the claw marks in her flesh like those of a bear.

            With nothing more than a few times and days that the skeleton appeared, Ryan wondered the streets every night, guiding those out late home and lingering in the shadows. Two days since he began his nightly wonders, he heard a man scream and raced through narrow passages and wide streets, following the screams and cries.

            He turned the last corner just in time to see a skeleton with rags floating off of its body and glowing green lights in large sockets holding the head of a man. The body was at its feet, blood gushing from wounds, not staining the skeleton’s bones.

            The skeleton’s jaw seemed to turn up in a smile when it saw Ryan. It looked back down at the head in its hand, thin, bone fingers curled into black locks. “Look at him, so scared,” the skeleton cooed, multiple tones echoing through the dark street, “he walked his sweetheart home, what a shame.”  
            Ryan scowled and pulled his flint-lock pistol from his belt. He pointed the barrel at the skeleton and fire. As the smoke cleared from his gun, he saw the skeleton holding the bullet with its thumb and pointer fingers as if it was plucking the bullet from the air.

            “I’ll tell you now, nothing can kill me,” the skeleton chuckled, bringing the bullet up to its eye, “I am eternal, I must exist.”

            Ryan scowled and rushed to pull a bag from his jacket’s pocket. The skeleton laughed, the tones spiking and making Ryan wince as his ears rang. When he looked at the skeleton again, it was stalking toward him, feet hovering over the ground and the head dangling from its hand, hair tangled in its bones.

            Ryan took a deep breath and opened the bag, carefully tilting the bag and letting tiny white grains fall to the ground. He never looked away from the skeleton as his arm moved carefully in a half circle in front of him.

            The skeleton cackled and ignored the salt at the head fell from its hand and bounced on the ground. “Nothing can stop me!” it howled, bursting forward.

            Ryan flinched slightly when sharp, bone fingers stopped just short of his nose. He took a shaky breath and stepped back, quickly finishing the circle while the skeleton tried to slash at the invisible barrier in front of it.

            When the circle was complete, the skeleton roared, oozing brown goop from its bones for a moment before solidifying in the shape of a bear. Ryan backed away, heart beating wildly as it slashed at the barrier, then at the salt, but it couldn’t even get close.

            Swallowing the lump in his throat, he tied off the bag and placed it into his pocket. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his shaking hands. “Alright,” he breathed, squeezing his eyes shut then opening them again, “now what do I do with you?”  
            The skeleton roared and changed shape throughout the night. The owners of the houses nearby watched from their windows as Ryan tried to shoot it a few times then light it on fire. When the sun began to rise, the skeleton didn’t sizzle in pain or disappear from sight.

            A few men edged out of their homes and offered their help as long as they didn’t get too close to the skeleton. They tried crosses and prayers. Holy water didn’t leave a mark and it laughed in the face of silver. Someone fetched a priest, then the Bishop, but neither could get the skeleton to disappear.

            “There has to be something we can do,” one of the first men who came to help Ryan sighed, resting his hands on his hips, “everything can die.”  
            Ryan sighed and ran his hand through his short blond hair. “Well, we should try to move it somewhere else,” he said, glancing back at the large crowd trying to use the street or watch their efforts.

            “How are we going to do that?” the man asked, frowning as the skeleton hissed at the Bishop when he got too close.

            “I’m going to need a lot of salt,” Ryan said, giving the man a tired smile when he looked at him in confusion.

            Luckily for them, a shipment of salt had just come into port the other day. The Bishop, taking a few men with him, bought a huge portion of the salt, bringing bucket loads back to Ryan.

            Ryan took the first bucket and carefully extended an oval from the circle, keeping the skeleton in the original circle. Once he was sure that the oval was completely closed, he had everyone step back and carefully reached a stick over the salt line.

            The skeleton watched as he broke the original circle. The instant the thin line was made in the salt, the skeleton burst forward, slamming into the wall created by the oval. The crowd gasped and screamed, backing away as the small group of men watching Ryan fearfully tripped over their feet trying to back away. The skeleton snarled and turned toward Ryan.

            “YOU!” it screamed, banging its claws against the invisible wall. “I CURSE YOU AND ALL THAT COME AFTER. I CURSE YOUR FAMILY AND YOU’RE BLOOD. YOU WILL LOOSE EVERYONE YOU SHALL EVER CARE FOR!”

            Ryan swallowed hard, staring down the skeleton. “Yeah, get in line. I’ve had creatures more terrifying than you curse me and here I am.”

            The skeleton roared in anger as a few of the men chuckled and the woman looked on in awe. Ryan sighed and rubbed his face. This was going to be a long day. Someone gave him a cart and they used the rest of the salt to completely seal the cart and get the skeleton into the back.

            They had to make salt line after salt line to force the skeleton forward. Once it was on the cart, Ryan took the reins, but the horses were too afraid to move. Eventually two of the most stubborn horses around were brought to him. They snorted at the skeleton and at Ryan, refusing to move for a completely different reason.

            “We could push the cart,” one of the men suggested late in the day. The cart hadn’t been moved in three days and they were pushing into a forth.

            “Where are we going to go with it?” another man huffed, arms folded and eyes tired.

            “I was just going to take it to the church,” Ryan sighed, rubbing his face, “at least there it’s out of the way.”

            “Where would we put that in the church, hum?” the Bishop snapped, glaring at Ryan, “we have no room for a monster like that!”

            “Will it even go into the church?” another man said, eyeing the skeleton nervously, “can it cross the threshold?”

            All of the men who stayed to help looked at Ryan who didn’t have any sort of answer for them. They argued late into the night until they begrudgingly agreed that the old abandoned wooden church on the edge of town would work well enough. The ground was still holy and if they had to just trap the skeleton there, at least no one was using the building.

            In the morning, they pushed the cart through town, getting the wheels caught on stone and dents in the road a few times. They eventually got to the church and had to lead the skeleton from the back of the cart, through the church doors, and trapped in a new salt circle in the center of the old sanctuary.

            As the men left, the owner of the cart driving away with men stretched out in the back, the Bishop patted Ryan’s back. “You won’t be paid until its dead,” he echoed with a crooked grin.

            Ryan scowled after him as he left, the skeleton laughing from its prison. This had to be the longest job he had ever been on.

            The skeleton mocked him as he tried every method possible for killing it. Nothing worked or even left a burn or wound. The skeleton remained, grinning at him as he searched through church books and forbidden texts.

            He tried spells taught to him by Wiccans and Vampires. He even brought a few in to complete harder spells. Nothing worked and nothing would work, according to the skeleton.

            “I am eternal,” it hissed as Ryan laid on the floor, staring at the rotting ceiling of the church, “you will not kill me.”

            “I can’t kill you, purify you, or just make you go away. _And_ you won’t make a deal,” Ryan sighed, covering his eyes with the crook of his arm. He had been sleeping in molding pews without a pillow or blanket. When snow slipped through the holes in the ceiling, he would wake with a thin layer covering him. Altar boys brought him his meals, one eventually gave him a thick quilt.

            The skeleton laughed, glowing green eyes staring into his soul. Ryan sighed and slowly rose to his feet. He grabbed the quilt and curled up in one of the pews, reading through a few new books hunters and magic users had sent him. He’d make a spell if he had to.

            “It won’t work,” the skeleton mocked as Ryan carefully burned symbols into the ground around it.

            Ryan ignored the skeleton, focusing on the symbols. Books laid open behind him, piled on top of each other to keep the cold breeze from flipping the pages. He was piecing together elements of different spells. Each claimed to eradicate a different type of creature. After months of research and consulting magical professionals, he hoped that this new spell of his wouldn’t blow him up.

            When the spell was finally finished, he stood on aching and cold legs and scooped up a piece of parchment covered in his messy handwriting. He stepped carefully through the symbols, stopping in a carefully burned circle made for the exact purpose of him standing there.

            The skeleton grinned down at him as he looked over the paper and cleared his throat. His Latin was poor, despite studying the language for years. He had memorized the sounds of spells rather than the words. One of his Wiccan friends assured him that just uttering the words, no matter how poorly, would do what he wanted without a problem.

            As he stumbled through the words, the burned symbols slowly began to glow, starting from the circle surrounding him and snaking out to the other symbols. The skeleton narrowed its eyes, watching the pure white light.

            “You will not kill me,” it hissed, bones rattling as the light brightened, “you cannot!”

            Ryan didn’t hear the skeleton, his ears were filled with white noise as he pushed through the Latin. The light became blinding, incasing the both of them.

            Just as Ryan grit out the last word, the skeleton screamed and his world turned to a burning blue. Just as suddenly as the screaming began, the world was silent and dark as Ryan collapsed to the ground.

            When he opened his eyes, his brain felt like a fog and everything was tinted blue. He didn’t blink as the world cleared and he slowly sat up. The symbols were gone, as if they never existed, and the skeleton was just a pile of rapidly disintegrating bones. A thin layer of snow covered the ground and him, falling from his clothes.

            Ryan frowned and shivered, raising his hand to rub his face. He gasped when instead of pink flesh, thin, white bone entered his vision. He couldn’t feel his heart pound as he looked between his hands then tore his boots and socks from his feet.

            Bone. His feet were bone, his hands were bone. He pulled at his shirt and pants, standing naked in the church. Everything was bone. He was a skeleton. His fingers clicked against his face as he tried to feel if he had skin there at least. Although he had no flesh, he could feel the smooth bone under his sharp fingertips.

            He yelled in panic, gasping when his voice carried with multiple undertones that echoed around him. He was a skeleton. He had turned into the skeleton.

 

* * *

 

            Years passed in a blur. His clothes changed with the times, floating just away from his bones like his old body was still there. He carried an old portrait of himself, trying to remake himself in mirrors when he felt like trying.

            His past blurred and faded with fashions and cultures. He despised himself then fell into depression then accepted himself. Ryan Haywood, the master monster hunter disappeared into legend and myth. Ryan Haywood the skeleton man lived on as the spirit of the holiday, Halloween.

            The title Halloween was a more modern conception. All Hollows Eve was the old title so few knew anymore. He enjoyed both names, they felt like a part of him. Every October, he would emerge from the shadow he had been watching the world from and strike fear into people. He never killed, not unless he had to.

            He remembered finding alleyways and dark parks, seeing people being attacked. He would reach out and grab the criminal by their collar and show them their greatest fear. As they ran screaming, he would turn toward the victim and they would run screaming as well. As long as they were safe, he supposed their fear of him didn’t matter. He _was_ rather scary.

            He stayed in the shadows for decades until an itch began. Starting from the back of his skull, a horrible desire to move, to spill blood, spread through him down to the tips of his fingers to his toes. He wondered, as he ripped a murderer to pieces, if this was how the old spirit began.

            Sometimes he would dream of the previous spirit. Hear it taught him and mock his lack of control. He would feel its green eyes trying to devour his soul. Perhaps the skeleton didn’t disappear as much as become a small part of him.

            Perhaps that was why Ryan decided to step out of his shadows. He mimicked a black skull mask he found in a shop and a leather jacket he took a liking too. He didn’t speak as he held out business cards to crooked Politian’s and the despite rich. He always knew when someone needed something like him. The jobs, the assassinations, they kept the itch in check until the dreams stopped and he found himself enjoying himself.

            They called him the Vagabond, Mad King, Skull. Each name was funnier than the last. He was feared, respected, desired. He remembered a time long ago that was lost to him and could smile, at least to himself.

            Then a short man with a curling mustache and crooked grin offered him a business card one night. “Nice to finally meet you, Vagabond. I’m Geoffrey Ramsey.”

            Ryan glanced between Geoff’s hand and face. He knew his name, knew he was terrified of snakes and losing those closest to him. These were the things he knew about every human he looked at. Nodding, he took Geoff’s card and hand with his gloved ones. Trying to maintain gloves and the black skull mask was too much effort so Ryan just manifested a pair of gloves he took a fancy too.

            “I want to offer you a job,” Geoff grinned, letting Ryan’s hand go and sitting next to him at the bar. This was where Ryan found his jobs, he would hear through the whispers of thoughts about anyone looking for a killer.

            Ryan shrugged and looked hard at Geoff. His eyes still glowed, there was nothing he could do about that. They still looked like they were floating in empty sockets, but the mask made the effect more natural.

            “I’m making a crew and I want you in it,” Geoff said, flinching back only a small amount. Any human would have missed the movement. “You’re good at what you do, just the kind of man I’m looking for.”

            Ryan tilted his head to the side and decided not to dive into Geoff’s mind, see what he was thinking. He knew about the crew, not just because of Geoff’s thoughts. The Fake AH Crew was the next big thing. They were an odd crew of strange people. Maybe he would fit right in.

            Ryan nodded slowly and Geoff smiled brightly at him. “Great! Just come to the address on the card tomorrow,” he said, slipping from the bar stool.

            Ryan nodded again, looking at the card between his fingers. When he looked up, Geoff had slipped into the crowd and out of the bar. Smiling to himself, he studied the card again before disappearing from the bar and the employee’s memories.

            The next day, Ryan stood in front of the penthouse door, carefully pulling in his powers. He didn’t want to invade these people’s minds unless he absolutely had to. He had decided so at the last second. He felt a pull, a human pull. With these people, he knew, had seen the future. They would make him human again, they’d take him back to who he once was, whoever that was.

            Taking the first deep breath he never needed since turning into a skeleton, he knocked hard on the door and waited with nerves he didn’t know he had anymore. Geoff opened the door and smiled brightly up at him. “Vagabond! Good for you to join us.”

            Ryan stepped into the penthouse as Geoff stepped aside. The living room was massive, shelves full of video games lined the wall next to the big screen TV. Two couches were pushed together to make one giant couch where three men were, two wrestling and the third laughing.

Bottles of beer and cans of soda filled a small coffee table. The kitchen was a bright white, clean and fully stocked. A big bearded man stood at the sleek stove, string a pot of something that smelled wonderful, even to Ryan’s non-existent nose.

            “Hey, assholes!” Geoff shouted at the men on the couch with a fond smile, “Come meet the new guy.”

            Ryan awkwardly waved with a sheepish smile as the two men who had been wrestling jumped up and ran over, the third taking his time, nose buried in some gaming device. The bearded man chuckled, shaking his head as a tall, British man argued with a short angry man.

            “Hey!” Geoff snapped, shaking his head when the British man squawked, “alright, this is Vagabond. Vagabond, these idiots are Michael and Gavin,” he pointed at the short man then the British man, “that’s Jack,” the bearded man smiled and nodded at him, “and that’s Ray,” the man with the game snapped the device closed and grinned at Ryan.

            Ryan took a deep breath and nodded to each of them. He felt out of his skin in more ways than one. “Welcome,” Jack said cheerfully, waving from the stove.

            “Fucker,” Michael grumbled, glaring at Ryan.

            “You’re a scary bloke!” Gavin laughed, goofy grin plastered to his face, “where did you come from anyway? I can’t find you anywhere, it’s like you appeared out of nowhere!”

            Ryan held back a grin and shrugged, folding his arms. Who was he supposed to be? Michael didn’t trust him and Jack and Geoff didn’t seem to be expecting much from him. Gavin was still talking, avoiding his eyes while Ray was studying him closely. Well, for now, he had a reputation to uphold.

            “You game?” Ray said eventually, talking over Gavin who was still going on about searching for who Ryan was.

            Ryan looked down at Ray, expecting him to flinch or shy away like anyone else, even if he only moved a little bit, but he didn’t. He looked him right in the eyes with a bored look. He was fiddling with the stylist of his game.

            Ryan shook his head and smiled mentally when Ray gave him a crooked grin. “Well, we’re about to change that. Get over here, big guy,” Ray said, waving for Ryan to follow him to the couch, “we’re introducing you to the best thing in the world.”

            Ryan’s shoulders shook with a silent chuckle as he followed Ray to the couch and sat next to him. Michael and Gavin were quick to join them while Geoff stayed in the kitchen with Jack.

            Gavin sat _too_ close, asking him a million questions while Michael sat as far away as possible, trying to kill him in game as much often as he could. Ray was mostly quiet, explaining controls or giving Ryan instructions when he got stuck.

            From the breakfast bar in the kitchen, Jack and Geoff offered snarky comments as they played. They were an odd bunch, but a fun one. He had to leave before they ate, he didn’t want to give away his big ‘I’m actually a skeleton’ secret, not yet anyway.

            He felt human as he forced himself to walk to the door, the others asking him to stay, even Michael, begrudgingly. “See you later, Vaga,” Ray said, grinning and waving when Ryan turned to look at him.

            Ryan paused with one hand on the door knob. He looked at all of them for a moment before giving them a small wave. He heard them laugh and talk as he slipped from the penthouse, feeling more human than he had in centuries.

 

* * *

 

            Vagabond didn’t talk, never took his mask off, and stuck around for maybe a couple of hours before disappearing. That’s just how he was and only Ray and Geoff seemed to accept that. Jack would worry, insisting that he eat something at least. Gavin would ask him a million questions about where he went and why. Michael grew more and more suspicious, claiming, when Vagabond left, that he was plotting against them.

            Vagabond would just shrug, would probably never answer Gavin’s questions and seemed amused when Jack told him he would turn into a skeleton.

            If Vagabond communicated with them at all, he did so through paper and pencil. Sometimes he would shrug or make universal gestures (particularly his middle finger). He carried around a crumbled piece of paper that he never replaced. The page just got more and more wrinkled, tearing at the edges and running out of space.

            Ray watched Vagabond pull the paper from his pocket along with a tiny pencil with a worn down eraser and barely any wood left. He scribbled down a response to Geoff’s question about a heist.

            Over top of his DS, Ray watched Vagabond write with the tiny pencil that was dwarfed by his fingers and had an idea just as his character died on screen. Snapping his DS closed, he grinned to himself and leaned back in his chair.

            Gavin and Michael gave him confused looks at he stuffed his DS into his pocket. “What’s with the smile?” Michael snorted, grinning at Ray.

            “Nothing,” Ray shrugged, pulling the DS stylist out from the side and snapping it back in.

            “It’s something!” Gavin squawked, poking at Ray’s shoulders, “what is it, X-Ray?”  
            Ray snorted and laughed, swatting at Gavin’s hand. “I just had an idea.”

            “What? You used your brain?” Michael faked a gasp, putting his hand in front of his shit-eating grin.

            Ray rolled his eyes and ignored Michael and Gavin as Geoff tried to get their attention again. Across the table, Vagabond was watching them, amusement dancing in his bright blue eyes.

            “Hey, Vaga.” Ray said, leaning forward. “Want to go for a ride after the meeting?”  
            Vagabond leaned back slightly, starting hard at Ray, never blinking. Slowly, he shrugged and nodded. Jack looked between them with a raised eyebrow as Geoff, Gavin, and Michael started yelling.

            As soon as the meeting was over, with little to nothing accomplished because they all were easily distracted by each other, Ray grabbed Vagabond’s arm and dragged him out the door, ignoring Gavin’s squawking and Michael shouting worriedly after them.

            Ray let Vagabond go once they were in the elevator, rapidly pressing the button for the garage. Vagabond watched Ray closely, tilting his head to the side when Ray grinned up at him. “It’s just a quick trip,” Ray said, stuffing his hands into his pockets, “we’re going to the Dollar Store.”

            Vagabond nodded slowly, the lights in his mask’s eyes narrowing at Ray slightly. Ray just smiled back, rocking on his feet. “Do you ever blink?” he said, studying Vagabond’s eyes. They looked more like glowing orbs than eyes. He vaguely wondered how Vagabond managed to get that effect.

            Vagabond’s head snapped to look at the elevator door and he shrugged. Ray raised an eyebrow then snorted. “Well, guess that makes you scarier then, huh?”

            Vagabond’s shoulders shook slightly in a chuckle, which Ray decided to count as a win. Vagabond wasn’t nearly as scary as he seemed. Of course, Ray was the only one to look him in the eyes. They were captivating in a weird way. Then again, Ray had a bad habit of liking the things most likely to kill him so he probably wasn’t an authority on the matter. He hadn’t been afraid in years either. He didn’t have that healthy fear of the world like the others did. He was sure that might be his downfall.

            Once in the garage, he dragged Vagabond over to his bike and got on. Vagabond hesitantly sat behind him, holding onto the seat. “You’re going to want to hold onto me,” Ray said, smirking back at Vagabond, “you’re going to fly off otherwise.”

             Vagabond’s eyes seemed to smile and he shook his head. Ray shrugged and turned the key. “Alright, you’re funeral,” he said, backing the bike from the wall and angling them toward the door.

            As soon as the automatic door opened, Ray tore out of the garage. Vagabond never reached up to wrap his arms around him but his presence was still pressed against Ray’s back. “Guess you have a better grip than I thought,” Ray said when he parked the bike in front of a Dollar Store on the other side of town.

            Vagabond shrugged, eyes smiling again as he got off of the bike and looked up at the store. Looking back down at Ray, he tilted his head to the side.

            “Come on,” Ray laughed, waving for Vagabond to follow him into the store. Ray bee-lined for the meager school supplies section while Vagabond meandered the shop, picking up random holiday statues and toys.

            Ray searched the tall stack of notebooks for the right colors, blinking down at a gooey skeleton sling shot that hit his leg before dropping to the ground. The hands and feet were clasped together for fingers, the white of the bones covered in lint and specks of dirt that would never come back off.

            Looking up, he saw Vagabond holding a bag of the sling shots, eyes grinning manically. Biting his lip to keep from laughing, Ray waved Vagabond over and turned back toward the stack.

            Vagabond stood next to him, leaning over his shoulder as he yanked notebooks from the wobbling tower. “Pick one,” he said, holding out five books up for Vagabond to see. One had two kittens laying on top of each other on the cover. Two were just completely pink, slightly different shades from each other. Another was covered in pink sparkles that floated to the ground every time Ray breathed. The last was black.

            Vagabond glanced over the books then looked at Ray. “What? You need a journal or something,” Ray said, nodding toward the books, “pick one.”

            Vagabond’s shoulders shook and he tapped the black notebook. As Ray pouted, he reached around him and grabbed a plastic sleeve of vibrant butterfly and cat stickers. He dropped the pack onto the notebook.

            Ray stared at the stickers for a moment before laughing. “I like how you think,” he said, smiling up at Vagabond before putting the other notebooks away.

            Vagabond shook his head and held up the skeleton sling shots. Ray shrugged and led Ryan deeper into the store. “Grab whatever you want, big guy,” he said, eyeing the food isle, “they won’t need it.”

            Vagabond stared at Ray for a long moment before hooking their arms and pulling him through each isle. Ray laughed, looking through the store for anything he wanted. Vagabond picked up a few masks and held them up for Ray to look over. In the food isle, Ray contemplated the difference between brands of chips while Vagabond watched him in amusement.

            Some snacks, the notebook, stickers, and skeleton sling shots in their arms, they walked up to the front counter. Vagabond followed Ray’s lead, dumping their things onto the counter and boredly waiting for the cashier to ring them up. The woman popped her gum and slowly bagged their items. She barely blinked at Vagabond, hadn’t even looked at him.

            Ray grinned when the woman finally looked up, narrowing her eyes at Vagabond before looking at Ray. “Ten fifty,” she huffed, resting her hands close to the edge of the counter.

            “Nah.” Ray shrugged, pulling a gun and shooting the woman between the eyes faster than any of them could have reacted to. Vagabond’s eyes were wide as Ray reached over and slammed his fingers against some of the buttons on the register, the gun already gone.

            “Hey big guy, mind looking for a safe in the back somewhere?” Ray said, pulling the drawer open and pulling the tray out.

            Vagabond stared at Ray for a long moment before nodding once and walking to the back of the store. Ray grinned after him before dumping the entire tray into a plastic bag. He then reached into the drawer and grabbed the few twenties and hundreds resting on the bottom.

            As he turned away from the counter, all of their bags on his arms, he stared toward the back room when Vagabond appeared from among the shelves. He was carrying a locked money bag that was nearly bursting at the seams.

            “Nice, let’s go,” Ray said, waving for Vagabond to follow him. They stuffed what they could into the bike’s seat, the tray being tossed to the ground empty and the money bag having to be pressed between them as Ray drove them back to the penthouse.

            Ray couldn’t help the hint of pride he felt when he realized that Vagabond was holding onto him rather than the seat. He swerved through cars and speed up a little faster than normal. He might have done a welly or two just to feel Vagabond’s shoulders shake with a laugh.

            “That was fucking smooth,” Ray said when they got to the garage and didn’t have to shout over the wind.

            Vagabond’s chin tapped his head as he nodded, letting Ray park the bike before slipping off. He waited for Ray to dig out the bags in his bike seat before holding his hand out. Ray looked between Vagabond’s hand and mask for a moment before laughing and digging the notebook out.

            “It doesn’t even have the cats on it yet,” Ray said, taking the money bag from Vagabond as he opened the notebook and pulled out his tiny pencil.

            Vagabond shrugged, eyes smiling, before looking down at the book and scribbling away. Ray grinned and led them to the elevator, waiting as Vagabond took slow steps after him. The notebook was held out to him halfway up.

            _That was a lot of fun, thanks for that._

Ray smiled at the smooth cursive before holding his hand out to Vagabond. The madman tilted his head to the side, staring at Ray. Chuckling, Ray pointed at the pencil then held his palm out again.

            Vagabond’s shoulders shook harder than Ray had ever seen them as he nodded and handed over the pencil. Ray braced the notebook against his hand and carefully wrote in blocky print: _No problem man, thought we could use some fun. Also, how the fuck do you write with this thing? Gavin’s dick is bigger than this._

Ray passed the notebook and pencil back just as the elevator doors slid open. Vagabond had finished reading what he had written when he got the door to the penthouse open. The others stared in confusion as Vagabond held his head in one hand and the notebook dangled from the other, his shoulders shaking.

            “What did you do?” Geoff snorted, narrowing his eyes at Ray as he dropped the money on the table, “where did you go?”

            “Dollar store,” Ray shrugged, nodding to the bags, “want a cut?”

            Geoff snorted and shook his head, although, he went over to the table anyway and stared pulling bills from the bags. Vagabond had collected himself, scribbling away at the notebook and trailing after Ray as he headed toward his room with their things.

            Michael and Gavin, still paused in their wrestling, watching along with Jack as they disappeared into Ray’s room. “What the fuck?” Jack said, looking back at Geoff.

            “They made about ten thousand from a fucking Dollar Store,” Geoff snorted, holding up a couple hundred bills, “who the fuck cares if they’re weird?”

           

* * *

 

            Ryan rather liked Ray. He didn’t ask about why he covered up like Gavin did. He didn’t despise him like Michael did. He didn’t mother him like Jack. Geoff didn’t do much to complain about, but Ray didn’t drink, so there was that.

            Ray’s idea of fun was also his. Sometimes Ray would just wave for him to follow him and they always ended up in some store shooting everyone they saw and stealing as much as they could. Usually, before the bloodshed, Ray would drag him through the place, pointing out anything that reminded him of something or was ridiculous.

            He loved how fast Ray was to pull a gun and how good his aim was. He loved his shitty jokes and meme things. He loved how they could spend hours in silence playing games or passing the notebook covered in glittering stickers to each other.

            Ray never asked. Never asked for his name or who he was before although he always told Ryan when he asked. The burn to kill never existed when Ray was around. He was himself when Ray was around. He could remember more of his past than ever before.

            _It’s fucking ridiculous. If they’re going to make a fucking game they should at least do it right._

Ryan read and reread Ray’s words, a new, mechanical, pencil in hand. Ray was complaining about a game he had found and played late at night. He looked as tired as Ryan assumed he was but he was still smiling, waiting for Ryan’s response.

            Glancing at Ray, Ryan tapped the pencil against the metal spiral holding the notebook together. Looking back at the lines waiting to be filled, Ryan took a deep breath and hesitantly began to write.

            He nearly shoved the book back at Ray, staring hard at his lap. He hadn’t told anyone his real name in a long time. There was a point where he couldn’t remember his name as much as he couldn’t remember who he was. He had always known, but somewhere down the line had stopped caring. Now that he had the crew, he was remembering himself, even if he only showed that to Ray.

            Ryan jumped when the notebook was being pressed against his arm. He risked a glance at Ray who didn’t look nearly as effected as Ryan had been fearing. Carefully taking the book, he looked down and smiled, hoping that Ray didn’t notice that what he thought was a mask was actually his face.

            _Well, Ryan, want to play this shitty game with me? You’ve gotta see this shit._

Ryan read the line a few times, reminding himself to steal this page somehow. He twirled the pencil in his fingers before quickly scribbling on the next few lines: _Think you could tell the others? I’m tired of Michael and Gavin calling me Vagamuffin. You fuck up my name once and I’m the one not living it down. Also, if this game is as bad as you say, this should be fun._

Ray laughed when he got the notebook. He wrote quickly before passing the book back. He slipped from his bed and set up his personal TV as Ryan read over his words.

            _I donno, you seem like a muffin to me. A nice soft one._

Ryan snorted aloud and winced. His head snapped to Ray who was focused on his X-Box. Relaxing slightly he shook his head and looked back at the book.

            _I’m not a pasty, thank you. I’m a porcupine, cute and deadly._

He set the book down in Ray’s spot just in time to catch he controller tossed to him. Ray gave him a lazy grin before scooping up and book and jumping back onto the bed. Ryan’s shoulders shook with a chuckle as he wobbled and tried to navigate the console.

            “A porcupine? Really?” Ray snorted, setting the book between them. He talked during games since writing was a little difficult when they were trying not to die. “Vagapine? Porcubond?”

            Ryan shook his head and rolled his eyes, elbowing Ray’s arm. “What? I’m trying to figure out a new nickname for you,” Ray grinned, elbowing Ryan back.

            Ryan shook his head again, letting Ray get them into the game. “Got to make you kid friendly somehow.”

            Ryan looked at Ray as the game loaded. Ray looked back with a mischievous grin. Ryan lost their staring contest with a sigh. Ray laughed and bumped their shoulders together, entering them into a co-op game.

           

* * *

 

            Ryan never used his abilities during a heist, he thought doing so would be cheating. That was, of course, unless his victim was the scum of the Earth, then he had some fun exploiting their greatest fears. However, on heists like the crew went on, he didn’t use the abilities he could control. He couldn’t help that bullets would rattle around in his bones before dropping to the ground.

            This time, he was willing to make an exception. There were four helicopters on their asses as well as more cop cars than he was willing to count. Michael and Gavin were struggling to get their getaway car started with both of Michael’s arms shot and Gavin’s leg bent at an unnatural angle. Geoff and Jack were trying to take out the helicopters while under heavy fire and Ray was just managing to keep safe by moving from building to building, shooting cops with deadly precision.

            Ryan stood in the middle of everything, bullets whizzing by, putting holes in his jacket and bouncing off of his bones. He looked at each of the people he came to consider friends and took a long, deep breath.

            Tearing down the mental wall he had built for his abilities was easier than building up, brick by brick, but he had no fears that he couldn’t rebuild the wall. Within moments of the last brick crumbling to dust, he knew everything he needed.

            The others cheered and yelled as the helicopters suddenly plummeted to the ground, the pilots screaming in fear. The copters crushed cars and officers, cutting others in half with the flying blades.

            As Ryan fed hallucinated nightmares to the ground cops, a chopper blade shot past him, kicking up chunks of pavement. Geoff yelled for him to get into cover and the part of him that was still himself ran for an alleyway with a wave.

            Police dropped like flies as Michael got their car started with a sluggish yell. Ryan smiled to himself as he watched Geoff and Jack pick up their car.

            “Rye and I will handle ourselves,” Ray’s voice floated through the coms melted into his skull where his ears should be.

            “Good luck,” Geoff sighed as Gavin blabbered on to Michael to keep him awake.

            Ryan snapped his attention to where Ray was, feeling pain rattle in his chest when he saw heavily armored SWAT team officers slowly creeping up behind him. He didn’t have to think, just ran straight into the nearest shadow and emerged out of one of the officer’s, grabbing them by the throat and throwing them at the two other officers on the roof.

            Ray gasped and yelped as the thrown officer skidded past him then off of the roof, the remaining two slowly sinking into their shadows, unable to scream. By the time Ray turned around, the officers were gone and Ryan had his head tilted slightly to the side, arms folded.

            “Nice throw,” Ray laughed, jumping up and slinging his pink sniper rifle over his shoulder, “how did you get here so quickly?”

            Ryan shrugged and held his hand out to Ray, trying not to smile when he didn’t hesitate to grab on. Ryan pulled Ray to the fire escape then through the alleyways shadowed by the buildings. The others were silent in their ear pieces so Ray tossed his away, smashing the small device against a wall. Ryan’s just ceased to exist.

            “Your safe house or mine?” Ray said as they crouched behind a surprisingly clean smelling dumpster. Cop cars and ambulances raced past the mouth of the alley, lights and sirens blaring.

            Ryan nodded towards Ray and followed him when he stood and rushed out of the alley and across the street to another. They took alleyways when they could, racing across busy streets when they couldn’t.

            Eventually Ray stopped under a fire escape, jumping up to grab the ladder and yank the rusting metal to the ground. The escape squeaked under their weight as they climbed to the third floor window.

            Ryan followed Ray into a fully furnished apartment covered in a thin layer of dust. “Shut the window,” Ray said, wondering into the kitchen, “Geoff’ll call when we’re clear to go home.”

            Ryan nodded although Ray had already disappeared into the kitchen. Shutting the window with a thought, he looked around the apartment. There was an X-Box hooked up to a large flat screen TV, games piled up on the TV stand. The furniture looked like a room someone would find in Ikea, staged to look perfect. Ryan didn’t doubt Ray ordered an entire room and had someone else set everything up.

            He rebuilt his wall as he walked into the kitchen which was just as bad as the living room. Ryan was reminded of the ‘Do it yourself’ magazines Jack and Geoff always read. Ray was even leaning against the counter with a drink in hand like the woman in the ads. The only thing missing was the light streaming in from the window and two kids running around.

            Ray grinned at Ryan over his glass. “I don’t use this place very much,” he said with a shrug, “we probably won’t be here for long.”

            Ryan nodded and walked over to Ray, leaning against the counter next to him. He wished they had their notebook. He wished he could talk without multiple tones echoing in his voice.

            Ray was silent, sipping at his drink, then he frowned and set the glass down and rushed off. Ryan stared after him, letting himself smile. His smile quickly fell when Ray burst back into the room with a notebook in hand. “Thought I had one,” he smiled brightly, holding out the notebook to Ryan, “write away, big guy.”

            Ryan eagerly took the notebook and turned to the counter so he could write faster and legibly.

            _This place looks like a Home Depot Magazine._

Ray snorted, spitting the water he had tried to drink back into the cup. He laughed and set the glass down again, coughing lightly. He let Ryan worriedly pat his back as he wrote.

            _Thanks, asshole. If you have to know, I basically bought every room from Ikea. Actually decorating an apartment I’m only using for looks is way too much effort._

Ryan shook his head, taking the pencil from Ray before glancing around the room.

            _At least the people at Ikea have good taste._

Ray pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at Ryan before snatching the pencil.

            _Are you suggesting I have no sense of style?_

Ryan’s shoulders shook as Ray slapped the pencil down onto the notebook, smile tugging at his frown.

            _Well, you do wear the same thing every day and your room at the penthouse is too messy to actually tell, so yeah. I am._

Ray gasped dramatically, hand over his heart, clutching at the fabric of his purple hoodie. He pouted at Ryan, before taking the pencil and smiling as Ryan’s shoulders shook.

            _I’m offended. I’ll show you. I have Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer somewhere in here._

After reading, Ryan looked at Ray and tilted his head to the side. Ray stared at him for a long moment before snorting and rushing off.

            “Doesn’t know about Animal Crossing.” Ray grumbled as he came back into the kitchen a different DS than normal in his hand. Ryan’s shoulders shook as Ray snapped the device open and started up the game. He leaned against Ray’s shoulder, watching him play and explain the game.

            For the first time in decades, he felt warm.

 

* * *

 

            “What are we doing for Halloween?” Gavin said, bouncing where he was sat next to Michael on the couch, “we should go to a party!”

            “The Fake AH Crew at a Halloween party?” Michael snorted, smiling at Gavin, “do you remember what happened last year?”  
            “That was Ray’s fault!” Gavin pouted, shooting a look at Ray who was sitting at the other end of the couch, nose buried in his DS.

            “That guy was creepy,” Ray deadpanned without glancing up.

            “So the proper course of action was to blow the place up?” Geoff said, coming around the couch to drop between Ray and Michael.

            “It worked, didn’t it?” Ray said, glancing at their boss before looking back at his game, smirking.

            Michael and Geoff snorted while Gavin pouted at Ray. “We’re going to a party and you can’t ruin it this year!” Gavin huffed, giving Ray his best stern look.

            “Does that mean I don’t have to go?” Ray said, snapping his DS closed.

            “You have to go X-Ray!” Gavin said, looking behind the couch and smiling brightly, “Right Ryan?”  
            Ray turned and looked at the masked man who was trying to slip from the apartment. Ryan had one gloved hand on the door knob. He turned and sighed heavily, walking over to the couch behind Ray. He folded his arms and stared Gavin down. Everyone was rather impressed that Gavin didn’t shy away like he normally did. No one was sure if that was a good or bad thing.

            “Nah, Rye and I have plans, isn’t that right big guy?” Ray said, tilting his head back against the back of the couch to smile up at Ryan.

            Ryan looked at Ray, eyes softening slightly, before turning to the others and turning hard again. He stared right at Gavin and nodded. Geoff snorted while Jack smirked at them. Michael narrowed his eyes while Gavin pouted. Ray felt like he should feel surprised, but he wasn’t.

            “Right, so I can’t go,” Ray said, settling back onto the couch. He cracked open his DS, freezing when a leather hand landed on his shoulder. Ray tilted his head back again, letting brown meet glowing blue orbs. They stared at each other for a moment before Ray shrugged and stood. The crew was tense for a moment until Ray came back with the notebook, a trail of glitter following after him.

            Ray followed Ryan into the kitchen, dropping into a chair and sliding the notebook over to Ryan. The older man pulled a mechanical pencil from his pocket and wrote quickly. Ray leaned back and glanced into the living room and smiled, waving at the others who were watching them in confusion. None of them had seen their exchanges with the book before. That was all done in Ray’s room or whenever they were alone.

            Geoff shook his head and turned to the TV, turning the X-Box on and starting up a game. The others turned to the TV and Ray chuckled, shaking his head. He looked back at Ryan who was watching him. Ray smiled and Ryan’s shoulders shook with a chuckle before he went back to writing.

            A few moments later, Ryan slid the notebook over to Ray, leaning back and folding his arms. Ray smiled and grabbed the notebook, reading Ryan’s words.

             _I was actually hoping that we could do something on Halloween, if you don’t mind. I want to show you something. You’re the only one I really trust with this. We won’t really have to do anything or go anywhere._

Ray raised an eyebrow, glancing at Ryan before snitching the pencil from the older man’s hand. Ryan’s shoulders shook again as he watched Ray scribble down a response.

             _That’s fine. I really don’t want to go to that party. I’m glad you trust me man. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy._

Ray pushed the notebook back over to Ryan. The older man’s shoulders shook more as he read. Shaking his head, he took the pencil back and started writing a response. They talked for a few hours before Ryan had to run off to do what he had been trying to do before Gavin caught him.

            When Ray shuffled off to his room to play games until he passed out, Michael and Gavin were still on the couch, both fast asleep laying on top of each other. Ray smiled at them as he passed, snorting when Gavin squirmed around and ended up falling off of the couch, although he never woke up.

            Halloween creeped up on them quickly. The rest of the crew dressed up and left the apartment, trying to convince Ray and Ryan to come with them. Gavin was the worst, flopping on top of them and whining. He only stopped when Ryan shot him his usual glowing glare.

            Gavin pouted and wondered over to Michael who was dressed, lazily, as a bear. He only had on a fuzzy bear jacket Gavin had gotten him some years ago. Gavin was dressed as a bird, feathered wings hanging off of his arms. Jack shook his head at them in his Santa suit while Geoff chugged his last pre-party whisky in a policeman uniform he had stolen from the precinct the last time he was in the jail.

            “Alright, assholes!” Geoff grinned, heading for the door, “we’re leaving!”

Gavin gasped and ran after Geoff with a wild grin while Michael and Jack shared smiles before following them slowly. “Don’t fuck on the couch!” Geoff told Ray and Ryan as they filed through the door.

            “See you later X-Ray!” Gavin said, waving back at them before the penthouse door slammed closed.

            Ray shook his head and looked at Ryan. They were sitting next to each other on the couch, controllers hanging in their fingers as the menu music played in the background. “So, do you want to keep playing or show me that thing?”

            Ryan shrugged and set the controller down. He watched Ray set his own aside and turn toward him. He pulled the notebook out from between the couch cushions, frowning and setting the book aside when Ryan shook his head.

Ryan stared at the book for a long moment before taking a deep breath and fiddling with his gloves. Ray raised an eyebrow and waited patiently, giving Ryan his full attention.

            Ryan sighed and tugged his gloves off. Ray wasn’t really sure what he was expecting. He always thought that Ryan just never wanted to leave a trace of himself anywhere or that he had horrible scars. Why Ryan covered himself up never really bothered him. However, skeleton hands was not something he was expecting at all.

            “What the fuck?” Ray’s jaw dropped as Ryan set his gloves aside and looked at his fingers. They weren’t gloves, or makeup. They were bone. Ryan was pressing his fingers together and they clicked and grinded together.

            “So,” Ryan said, voice in multiple tones. Ray jumped, staring at Ryan wide eyed. The black skull mask was now white, blue orbs bright against black sockets. “Don’t freak out too much.” The skull’s jaw moved. Dropping with his words and clacking together when the teeth met. Where the lower jaw met the rest of the skull grinded together.

            Ray’s eyes nearly fell out of his head his eyes were so wide. “What the fuck,” he gasped, leaning away as Ryan chuckled awkwardly.

            “I’m a skeleton,” Ryan said carefully, the jaw bone turning up at the ends as he smiled.

            Ray blinked at Ryan slowly, taking in that fact that the skull was never a mask and Ryan had fucking bone hands. “No fucking shit!” he said, shaking slightly. “How the fuck did that happened?!”

            Ryan sighed and rubbed his face, the bone clicking against each other. The sound made Ray’s teeth ache for a moment. “Uh, so I’m the spirit of Halloween?”

            Ray’s face fell to a neutral, tired look. “You’re shitting me,” he said, folding his arms, “that’s it?”

            “Nope,” Ryan said, holding his hand out to Ray, “I’m really a skeleton and the spirit of Halloween. There is more to the story, I just don’t remember much.”

            Ray frowned and took Ryan’s hand. The bone was smooth under his fingers, sharp at the ends. That was real human bone, he would know. He had broken enough of them. He even pricked his finger on Ryan’s just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Then he tugged on the fingers to see if they would come off, they didn’t, although, they separated for a moment. His brain still couldn’t wrap around the idea so he pushed up Ryan’s sleeve, but a bone hand lead to a bone wrist and arm. “Okay, explain what you can remember,” Ray said, letting go of Ryan’s hand.

            “It happened years ago, some other skeleton guy died by my hand and then I woke up as a skeleton,” Ryan said sheepishly, looking at his hands and moving them, “apparently, I just have to simply exist, I can do whatever I want, it’s really hard to kill me, and I live for a long time.”

            Ray stared blankly at Ryan, thinking back to their time in the crew. Ryan would come back with bullet holes in his jacket, but no blood. He never ate in front of them, never went to the bathroom. He rarely slept in the penthouse.

            “Okay,” Ray said slowly, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. This was a lot, but somehow this made more sense that he knew it should.

            “Okay?” Ryan said, fidgeting slightly. His jaw turned down, eyes pulsating in their sockets. They were really dots of light, that wasn’t effect. That was natural. Wow this was weird.

            “Okay, whatever. You’re a skeleton. That’s actually pretty cool,” Ray said grabbing his controller. This was truthfully the least weird thing that could happen. Ryan was a skeleton? Alright. Ryan was a vampire? Now that was a stretch. “You’re still you, I guess.”

            Ryan stared at Ray for a long moment, eyes pulsating in their sockets. “You’re just, okay with this?”

            “I mean, YOLO, right?” Ray shrugged, smiling at Ryan.

            Ryan smiled back and laughed. The tones mixed together, sounding musical, they blended together beautifully. Ray shook his head of his thoughts and started to navigate to a co-op game. “There’s something else I need your help with,” Ryan said, making Ray pause and look at him.

            “What’s up, big guy?” Ray said, tossing the controller back onto the couch. There goes his attempts to wrap his head around what was going on.

            “I can change my shape, but I need some help making myself look human,” Ryan said, fingers clicking together as he folded them, “every time I try to do it myself, I look less and less human.”

            Ray pursed his lips and looked over Ryan’s skull. After years of killing people and burying their bodies, Ray had a number of run-in’s with skulls. None of those times seemed particularly helpful. He had never seen the person’s face before they died and never had a mental image of what they could have looked like from just the skull.

            “I can try,” Ray said slowly, frowning. He reached out and ran his fingers over Ryan’s cheek bone. They were cold and smooth. “I don’t know what I can do without some sort of picture.”

            Ryan was froze as Ray traced the bones on his face. His fingers felt strange. When Ray had taken his hand, he had noticed a strange feeling, but now he could really feel the difference between Ray’s flesh and his ability to still feel without nerves. His bone fingers might feel like flesh, but that was only a simulated feeling compared to the real thing.

            “Rye?” Ray said, pulling his hand back and frowning worriedly at Ryan, “you okay?”

            Ryan shook his head, eyes staying in one place in the sockets, before smiling at Ray. “Sorry, no one with flesh has touched my bones before. It’s weird.”

            Ray snorted and laughed. “That’s not fucking weird at all,” he said, leaning back on the cushion, “so how are we going to do this?”

            Ryan smiled sheepishly and pulled a small piece of wood from the air, making Ray jump and stare at him wide eyed again. “My mother had this portrait made before I left home,” Ryan said, holding the painted wood out to Ray, “it’s the closest thing I have to how I used to look.”

            Ray slowly took the portrait and looked down at the painting. Ryan sat in his father’s plush leather chair. He looked bored out of his mind, short blond hair carefully combed. His strong jaw had slight stubble. Ray blinked at the painting, following the curve of flesh Ryan’s face.

            Ryan chuckled awkwardly when Ray rapidly looked between the portrait and Ryan’s skull. “Huh,” Ray said, smiling at how handsome Ryan was, “I can kind of see how this works now.”

            “Great?” Ryan said stiffly, standing, “shall we begin then? If you want, of course.”

            Ray smiled up at Ryan and grabbed his hand as he stood. He dragged Ryan to his room. “Fuck yeah we’re doing this,” he said, making Ryan sit on the edge of his bed. He jumped slightly when his door closed without either of them being close, but just shook his head and moved on without comment.

            Ryan smiled in relief, letting the clay that morphed his features ooze from his bones. He laughed lightly when Ray grunted in disgust. “What the fuck is that shit?” he said, poking at the clay.

            “It’s what I use to mold my appearance,” Ryan said, voice slightly muffled by the clay over his mouth, “once I have a form, I can remember it forever, sort of. It can get distorted along the way, but its close enough. Having a black skull for a face is the easiest for me though, it’s just my normal head with a neck.”

            Ray shook his head and leaned back, holding the picture up next to Ryan’s head. “Alright, mold away then.”

            They fought with Ryan’s face for over five hours. Ryan seemed to have some sort of programing ingrained into his brain to look terrifying. New faces would appear and mold around Ryan’s skull, many of them deformed. Ray gave up telling Ryan how to change his face and just grabbed handfuls of clay himself.

            Once Ray had control, the process went much smoother. Leaning back, he studied his work, looking between the painting and Ryan’s face. He looked just as handsome as the picture, short blond hair looked soft on his head, blue eyes still glowing against white. He had a strong jaw and a little bit of stubble. He had made him look slightly older since, as he worked, Ryan had said that he hadn’t been home in a few years since the painting was made.

            Ryan didn’t remember much of who he used to be, not even the date in which he was born. He did remember a few big events as his time as a human and afterwards. Ray listened with a faint smile as Ryan recounted stories as he worked.

            “What do you think?” Ray said when he finished. He had pulled Ryan into his bathroom so he could look into the mirror over the sink.

            Ryan’s eyes went wide as he reached up and poked his cheeks with boney fingers. “It looks like it used to,” he whispered, turning to Ray and giving him a dazzling smile, “thank you.”  
            “No problem, Rye,” Ray said, smiling back. Ryan looked at himself again, poking at his face and pulling at the skin. Ray chuckled and slipped from the room. “Games?”

            “I had a better idea, actually,” Ryan said, quickly following Ray, “There’s really only one reason I needed a human face.”

            “What’s that?” Ray said, turning to look at Ryan. He tensed when he came face to chest with Ryan. Looking up, he felt his face heat up at the soft smile Ryan was giving him.

            “I really wanted to be able to be closer to you,” Ryan said, reaching up and cupping Ray’s cheek. He nearly jumped a mile when warm, properly colored, flesh met his cheek rather than cold bone. “I want to be able to hug you and kiss you without being a skeleton getting in the way.”

            Ray was definitely blushing now, heart hammering against his ribs. He puffed a laugh, leaning into Ryan’s hand. “You’re a sap,” he mumbled, trying his hardest not to stare at Ryan’s new lips.

            “I grew up in a very romantic era,” Ryan chuckled, leaning closer till their foreheads nearly touched. His skin no longer felt like clay. He felt like a real flesh and blood human, including the dull noise of blood rushing through his veins. “Can I kiss you?”

            Ray swallowed hard, barely believing the spirit of Halloween, and a hot mother fucker at that, wanted anything to do with him. Then again, why should he waste time thinking about that when he could be kissing said mother fucker?

            “Yeah,” Ray breathed, smiling as he met Ryan half way. The kiss was gentle and sweet, although Ryan more or less tasted like pumpkins with a hint of playdough. He didn’t have a tongue either, but that wasn’t really the important part.

            Ryan’s arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer as Ray’s fingers slid into blond hair. Ray had to pull back to breath, Ryan smiling like an idiot as he pressed his nose into the back of Ray’s jaw.

            “Sorry,” Ryan sighed, surprisingly hot breath sending shivers down Ray’s spine, “forgot that you needed to breathe.”

            “It’s fine. You just don’t have lungs,” Ray laughed lightly, tugging on Ryan’s hair and kissing him when he looked at him.

            Ray pulled them back, letting Ryan pin him to his bed when the back of his knees hit the mattress. Ryan pulled back just when Ray needed air, nuzzling into his neck and pressing feather light kisses into his neck and jaw.

            Ray laughed breathlessly, holding onto Ryan. “You didn’t even take me on a date first,” he said, laughing when Ryan pressed his fingers into his sides.

            “That can be arranged,” Ryan said, kissing Ray’s jaw, “but tomorrow. Right now, you’re warm and cute.”

            Ray snorted and smiled, kissing Ryan’s cheek. “First off, I’m manly as hell. Second, you’re just cold because you’re a skeleton.”

            “First, whatever you say,” Ryan snickered, turning them so they were laying on their sides, “Second, that is a fact.”

            Ray laughed and snuggled into Ryan’s chest. He felt like a human body underneath, but he hadn’t seem much past Ryan’s sleeve. “Are you a skeleton under your clothes too?”

            “For now,” Ryan said, running his fingers through Ray’s hair. The feel was no different to him. Now that someone had touched his bones everything felt like a wisp of feeling, but one that resonated throughout his entire body. “We can fix that later if it comes up.”

            Ray hummed in thought, running his fingers over Ryan’s jacket. “I want to do it now.”

            “Uh, what about the date?” Ryan said slowly, brow furrowed in confusion. “I mean, I’m a little rusty on human dating practices, but I’m pretty sure that comes first.”

            Ray rolled his eyes and sat up, making Ryan lay on his back. “You’re jackets a pain,” he said, grabbing the zipper and unzipping the jacket. He was only half surprised when the fabric disappeared under his fingers. Ryan’s upper body floated slightly above the bed, bone leading from the flesh of his neck. His body acted like the flesh and muscle was still there, although only bones existed.

            Ryan glanced down at his rib cage and spinal cord. He could see all the way down his pants to his toes. “And?”

            “And, you’re easier to cuddle with if you’re just in a t-shirt,” Ray said, tugging on the leg of Ryan’s pants, “I’m not trying to bone you, that’s level ten shit.”

            They both paused as Ray’s words sank in. Ryan groaned as Ray snorted and laughed. “Never make that pun again and we can do this,” Ryan said, giving Ray as stern a look as he could when his pants and shoes had disappeared.

            “Deal,” Ray snickered, moving away so Ryan could sit up.

            Making Ryan’s body was significantly easier than his face. Ray just took control of the situation from the beginning and Ryan let him. Until Ray made his penis massive, Ryan had to veto that one. Once situated in a form fitting body, Ryan solidified the form and manifested some clothes for himself.

            “Much better,” Ray hummed, snuggling into the soft fabric of Ryan’s t-shirt.

            Ryan chuckled and wrapped his arms tightly around Ray, rubbing his back and playing with his hair. “Your spine is a mess,” he mumbled, fingers running over large knots and bends.

            “I could make so many bone puns right now,” Ray snorted, smiling sweetly at Ryan when he gave him an annoyed look, “but I won’t because you’re comfortable.”

            Ryan snorted and shook his head. He pulled Ray close again, pressing his fingers into Ray’s spine. They fell asleep tangled together. Well, Ray slept, Ryan watched over him silently and with a fond smile.

            In the morning, he shifted back to the form that the crew knew and stuck around much longer than normal. They mainly stayed on the couch, Ray pressed into Ryan’s side as he played his DS, Ryan’s arm tight around his waist. The crew watched them with confusion from the kitchen. They had all wondered in from different parts of the penthouse with varying degrees of headaches. They put their hangovers aside in favor of figuring out when the fuck was going on.

            “What the fuck happen?” Michael said, dropping onto the other end of the couch, Asprin and glass of water in hand, “did you two bone or something?”

            The entire crew grew more concerned when Ray burst out laughing and Ryan sighed. “Or something,” Ray managed out between laughs. Ryan’s voice maintained multiple tones so he still couldn’t talk to the others.

            Glancing at each other, the crew decided to nurse their headaches and think about this later. They probably didn’t want to know anyway.

 

* * *

 

            Ryan walked over to the couch and folded his arms, watching Ray beat Michael and Gavin at Call of Duty. He grinned as Gavin accidentally blew up Michael and himself leading to a yell of pure rage to echo through the penthouse.

            Chuckling, he leaned over the couch and rested his chin on top of Ray’s head, letting his arms dangle into Ray’s lap. “Oh, hey Rye,” Ray laughed, dropping his controller to grab Ryan’s hands, “what’s up?”  
            Ryan squeezed his fingers and kissed the top of Ray’s head before pulling on his arms. Ray shrugged and tossed his controller at Michael and Gavin who were arguing. He stood and slipped his hands out of Ryan’s to round the couch and bump their sides together.

            Ryan smiled and wrapped his arm around Ray’s waist, pulling him close. “What’s up, big guy?” Ray said, leaning against Ryan’s side.

            Ryan nodded toward the door before tilting his head to the side. Ray snorted and laughed, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “That’s fucking adorable without the skull,” he said, flicking off Michael when he made a gagging noise.

            Ryan rolled his eyes and tugged Ray toward the door, nodding to Geoff and Jack when they passed the kitchen. “But actually, what’s up?” Ray said in the elevator, their hands threaded between them.

            “How about that date?” Ryan shrugged, smiling sheepishly, “We’d have to go to one of your safe houses, but I figured we could game or watch movies? I think I still know how to cook.”

            Ray blinked up at Ryan then smiled brightly at him. “So, basically what we do every time we’re alone? I’m fucking game,” he said, squeezing Ryan’s hand, “have you watched any movies recently?”  
            “Not one, ever,” Ryan sighed, running his hand through his hair. He glanced at Ray and dropped his chin to his chest. He did not like the manic grin being sent his way. “I’m going to regret that, aren’t I?”

            “You have no fucking clue,” Ray laughed, pulling Ryan out of the elevator when the doors opened, “if you’re cooking, do you want to drop by a store to get what you need? I don’t keep my safe houses stocked.”

            Ryan shared Ray’s crooked grin and nodded. “Sure, I’ll let you decide,” he said, following Ray to his small brown car.

            Ray laughed and slipped into the driver’s seat. He jumped when Ryan disappeared then reappeared in the passenger seat, still holding his hand. “Holy shit! Warn a man,” Ray breathed, free hand over his heart.

            “Sorry,” Ryan said, bringing Ray’s hand to his lips. He kissed his knuckles and smirked at the blush that started on Ray’s cheeks and edged down his neck.

            “Romantic bastard,” Ray huffed, pulling his key out of his shorts pocket, “I need both hands to drive.”    

            “Nah,” Ryan waved dismissively, the car starting up without the key in the ignition.

            Ray stared at the wheel as the gear shifted and the break released. “Okay,” he laughed, dropping his keys into his lap, “if I never have to drive anywhere again, I’ll suck your dick.”

            Ryan choked on air he didn’t need. The car stuttered moving backwards before rolling smoothly again. “Excuse me, what?” Ryan rasped, blinking at Ray.

            Ray bit his lip to keep from laughing. “Alright, maybe not tonight, but I will be sucking your dick at some point,” he said with a nod. He looked out the window as Ryan stared at him and the car carefully rolled out of the garage. “Wait, can you even get it up? I mean, you can make it go up, but like. Do you even want sex?” he said, looking at Ryan with equal parts panic and nerves, “’cause it’s definitely fine if you don’t.”

            Ryan blinked at Ray a few times, trying to process everything. Not only had no one suggested sucking any part of him in a long time, but he had no idea if he had a sex drive anymore. “Well,” he coughed, feeling as though he was blushing, “considering that the idea is extremely appealing, I think that’s a possibility.”

            Ray frowned and glancing to make sure Ryan was still driving them straight. “You don’t have to,” he said, squeezing Ryan’s hand, “I mean, I don’t really get in the mood that often.”

            “Its fine, Ray,” Ryan said, pulling Ray’s hand to his lips again, kissing his fingers, “I’m fine with doing whatever you want to.”

            Ray smiled softly, freeing his hand from Ryan’s to cup his cheek and pull him into a kiss. Ryan smiled against him, closing his eyes. They both felt the car jerk and sputter, jumping apart. Ryan quickly corrected them and laughed lightly. “Well, we can’t do that.”

            Ray snorted and laughed, shaking his head. He grabbed Ryan’s hand again and smiled at him. “Damn, oh well,” he shrugged, relaxing back in his seat, “this is still fucking awesome.”

            “I don’t really understand the extent of my abilities,” Ryan shrugged, looking out the window, “it seems like I can do anything I want.”

            “So you’re like a god?” Ray said, furrowing his brow and eyes glossing over, “that’s really the only thing that makes sense?”  
            “Well, A god is immortal to an extent,” Ryan said, letting their hands rest on the center council, “actually, that’s wrong, but that’s not the point. My point is that I can die, it’s just very difficult and I’m the only one that knows how.”

            “But you don’t remember,” Ray said before snorting and smiling at Ryan, “that’s good news for you then, huh?”  
            Ryan froze, the car stalling before continuing on. Ray frowned and leaned forward to see Ryan’s face. He looked _scared_ for a moment before smiling at Ray like nothing was wrong. “I suppose you’re right,” Ryan said, looking ahead again.

            Ray slowly leaned back, looking worriedly at Ryan. They sat in silence for a moment before Ryan looked at Ray sheepishly. “I have no idea where we’re going.”

            “Oh, shit,” Ray laughed, looking around and pointing to the light they were coming to, “turn to the right there.”

            Ryan nodded and followed Ray’s instructions to a grocery store just outside of town. They grinned at each other before Ryan’s face melted back to a black skull and they walked into the store hand in hand.

            They got away with all of the money in the small store and leaving ten dead. Ray directed Ryan to a small cabin out in the woods. “I like this one,” Ray said as they pulled onto a dirt road, “it’s away from everyone.”

            “Of course,” Ryan chuckled, looking ahead at the small, two story tall cabin, “homey.”

            “Yep,” Ray grinned, getting out of the car once the engine cut. They carried their groceries in and Ryan stared cooking. Ray watched from the kitchen table, making idle conversation.

            “Holy shit this is good,” Ray gasped after trying a bit of Ryan’s food, “what the fuck is this?”

            “To be honest, I don’t remember,” Ryan said, smiling and shaking his head when Ray stared shoveling food into his mouth, “no one makes it anymore though.”

            “Fucking shame,” Ray said around a mouthful of food, “this is fucking delicious.”

            “Good,” Ryan laughed, leaning back. He looked down at the plate of food he had made of himself out of a habit he thought was long forgotten.

            Ray paused, swallowing everything that was in his mouth. “Can you actually eat or does it just, fall out?” he said, narrowing his eyes at Ryan’s chest.

            “I don’t know,” Ryan said, pursing his lips and grabbing the fork beside his plate. He poked at his food before shrugging and making his jacket disappear. “I don’t need to.”

            Ray watched closely as Ryan ate a fork full of the food. Ryan made a surprised noise when he could actually taste the meal. Ray chuckled and leaned forward, watching as Ryan swallowed and the food didn’t appear.

            Ray frowned as Ryan looked down, really expecting chewed food to be floating around under his ribs. “Huh,” Ryan said, getting another forkful, “it just disappears.”

            “To where?” Ray said, leaning back as Ryan took another bite. He snorted when Ryan shrugged and swallowed. The food didn’t appear again and Ray nearly pouted. “Well that’s not fun.”

            “Did you want to see my chewed food?” Ryan said, raising an amused eyebrow. A t-shirt appeared on his body, flesh filling in his arms.

            “Yes and no?” Ray huffed, eating a giant portion of his food, “it would make sense.”

            “Nothing about this makes sense,” Ryan said, eating more, “although it’s great that I can taste this. I’ve been wanting it since it disappeared.”

            “But you don’t have a tongue,” Ray said, narrowing his eyes at Ryan, “can you make one?”

            Ryan paused with his empty mouth open and the fork hovering in the air. He lowered the fork and frowned. “Maybe?” he said, shifting his jaw from side to side for a moment, “like this?”

            Ray winced when Ryan opened his mouth and a snake slithered out. “No, no. That’s very wrong and I’m not kissing you with that in your mouth.”

            Ryan’s brow furrowed and he looked down as the snake dropped from his mouth onto his lap. “Oh, oops,” he said making the snake disappear with a though.

            “Why must everything you make look creepy?” Ray said, frowning when Ryan gave him a tired look. They stared at each other for a moment before the gears turned in his head. “Oh, right. Never mind, that was a dumb question.”

            Ryan snorted and took a bite. “I’d say,” he said, smiling when Ray kicked him under the table.

            “Shut up, asshole,” Ray laughed, turning back to his plate to stuff his face again.

            Once the dishes cleaned themselves, they went to the living room and turned on the X-Box. Ryan wasn’t surprised that everything was covered in dust, but this safe house was not as bad as the last one.

            They played for a few hours before Ray insisted that they watch a couple hundred movies that Ryan hadn’t even heard of. They only got through two movies before mocking the characters and talking over the plot.

            “I mean, why the fuck would someone do that?” Ray said, leaning into the fingers carding through his hair. He was laying on top of Ryan, arms curled up under him while Ryan’s arm was tight around him.

            “People are horribly stupid,” Ryan said, playing with stray strands, “I’m surprised that they didn’t make an obstacle course before destroying everything.”

            “They _did_ ,” Ray groaned, pressing his cheek into Ryan’s collar bone, “that’s why everything got destroyed.”

            Ryan snorted and laughed, squeezing Ray lightly when he stared laughing as well. “I’m surprised you lasted so long as a bag boy anyway,” Ryan said when he calmed.

            “So am I,” Ray sighed, gently tracing Ryan’s collar bone, “That wasn’t the thing that actually tipped me over the edge.”

            “What did?” Ryan said, closing his eyes, focusing on Ray’s voice and the feeling of his fingers.

            “I think it was when I was working at the bar,” Ray said softly, watching the paths his fingers were making, “a fight broke out and when I tried to break it up, I got socked right in the jaw.”

            “Ouch,” Ryan winced, kissing Ray’s head without opening his eyes.

            “Broke my fucking jaw,” Ray laughed lightly, letting his hand rest against Ryan’s chest, “but when I recovered, I just. I was so _done._ I just wanted everything to stop and I think I strangled the guy? I don’t really remember. The next thing I remember clearly is being in the middle of high way covered in blood.”

            Ryan frowned and opened his eyes, looking down at Ray. His eyes were glazed over, a small frown on his face. “I hitched hiked to the next city. That’s when I ran into Michael. He was already in the business and taught me everything I know. Then he handed me a sniper and I went solo.” His eyes focused again and he looked up at Ryan, smiling softly. “When Geoff found Michael the first person he suggested was me. I joined the crew and I haven’t looked back since.”

            Ryan smiled and cupped Ray’s cheek, curling his fingers around his jaw. He pulled him into a kiss. Ray sighed against him, shifting up and tilting his head. Ryan felt Ray’s tongue in his mouth occasionally and he wondered if not having a tongue was weird for him. He wasn’t going to try and make one now, if a snake dropped from his face earlier, he would hate to have something equally as bad happen while Ray was kissing him.

            Ray pulled back panting, looking between Ryan’s eyes for a moment before smiling and diving back in. Ryan slipped his hand up into Ray’s hair. Ray’s fingers tapped against his collarbone, not able to really move since all of his weight was on his arms.

            When Ray pulled away again, Ryan smirked and rolled them. Ray yelped cutely, blushing darker as he was suddenly pinned under Ryan. “That was adorable, by the way,” Ryan breathed, leaning down as Ray’s arms wrapped around his shoulders.

            “Excuse you,” Ray huffed, shivering when Ryan kissed his jaw, “I’m manly as hell.”

            “Anything you say,” Ryan sighed before kissing Ray again. He loved the feeling of Ray’s thin fingers slipping into his hair and tangling in the strands. He loved how his other hand pressed into his back to pull himself up and closer.

            They would only part for moments before kissing again. When Ray looked more dazed than out of breath, Ryan pepper his face with kisses, just to hear him laugh.

            They kissed a few more times before Ray curled into Ryan’s chest, holding onto him tightly. He nuzzled his head into his chest, smiling against him. Ryan had a love struck grin as he held Ray tighter, curling around him.

 

* * *

 

            “Are you sure you want to do this?” Ryan said, hands on Ray’s hips and frowning up at him.

            “For the tenth time, _yes,_ ” Ray laughed, kissing Ryan before he could ask yet again.

            All Ryan had done was walk into the penthouse. The instant Ray saw him, he had vaulted over the couch, grabbed his arm, and dragged him into his room. He had looked at the others for some sort of explanation, but they all shrugged at him.

            Ray had made him sit on the bed before promptly straddling his lap and kissing the sense out of him. When Ray parted this time, he went right for Ryan’s neck.

            Ryan gasped as a shiver rattled all of his bones. Ray paused and leaned back, smirking at Ryan. “I guess you can get it up.”

            Ryan frowned and blinked at Ray for a moment before realizing that there was, in fact, a growing tent in his pants. He blushed and cupped the back of Ray’s neck and yanked him into another kiss. Ray laughed against him before yelping when Ryan squeezed his ass.

            They both grinned at each other when they parted. “I’m not sure how this works completely,” Ryan breathed, shuddering when Ray grinded their hips together.

            “With men or in general?” Ray nearly moaned out, grinding down again.

            “Ge-general,” Ryan stuttered, squeezing Ray’s hips to make him pause so he could think straight, “not with a body that can change shape.”

            Ray pressed his lips into a thin line, shaking with laughter. “Well aren’t you kinky?”

            Ryan felt like he probably was blushing. “What? No!” he groaned, tilting his head back, “I just don’t want to accidentally have my penis turn into a snake or something.”

            Ray snorted and laughed, resting his forehead against Ryan’s shoulder. “Snake kink, Ryan? Really?” he said, laughing when Ryan groaned again, “that explains why your tongue turned into a snake,” he giggled before shaking his head, “it’ll be fine, don’t think about it and it’ll be fine. Although,” he said, sitting up with a serious look, “I wouldn’t mind if you made it bigger while it was in me.”

            Ryan stared at Ray wide eyed as his facade dropped and he stared laughing. Ryan groaned, and pushed Ray onto the other side of the bed. “That’s it, we’re not having sex,” he said, folding his arms.

            “Ah, Rye!” Ray laughed, wrapping his arms around Ryan’s waist, “I’ll be serious, I promise!”

            “I don’t believe you!” Ryan pouted, folding his arms. Ray was still giving him that lopsided grin, even though his cheek was smooshed against his shoulder.

            “I promise. You’re a little kinky, I’m a little kinky, it’s fine,” Ray said, choking on his laughs.

            “Nope,” Ryan said, trying to untangle himself.

            “Ryyyyyyaaaaan!” Ray laughed, still holding onto Ryan’s hand, “I’m done, I’m done.”

            Ryan narrowed his eyes at Ray who gave him a relatively honest smile. “One more joke and I’m disappearing from the room,” he said sternly before sitting down and letting Ray straddle his lap again.

            “Deal,” Ray nodded, kissing Ryan and trailing his fingers over his shoulders.

           

            “See? You were fine,” Ray panted, eyes still slightly glazed over. He was pressed into Ryan’s chest as they laid on their sides.

            “I’m surprised, it’s been while,” Ryan sighed, pressing his nose and lips into Ray’s hair. He traced soft patterns into Ray’s back.

            Ray nodded and hummed in agreement, trying to catch his breath for a moment. “You’ve got to be a God though,” he mumbled, closing his eyes, “that was the best fucking sex I’ve ever had.”

            Ryan hid his face in Ray’s hair, holding him tighter when he began to laugh. “That is not a God qualification.”

            “Is for me,” Ray said, tilting his head up to peck Ryan on the lips, “so is being unfairly cute.”

            Ryan puffed a sigh, pouting at Ray. “Asshole,” He mumbled, smiling when Ray laughed again and pressed kisses against his cheeks and nose.

 

* * *

 

            “We should do something for Halloween!” Gavin declared mid-heist meeting.

            Geoff groaned as the rest of the crew gave Gavin skeptical looks. “Like what?” Jack asked, raising an amused eyebrow.

            “A scare off!” Gavin said, nearly bouncing in his chair.

            “Seriously? You and Geoff have already fucking lost,” Michael snorted, smiling at Gavin.

            Ray and Ryan shared looks and small, crooked smiles over Ray’s DS. “I vote for it to be a team thing.” Ray said, leaning back in his chair, snapping his DS closed and shoving the device into his hoodie pocket.

            “Can we get back to the heist?” Geoff huffed as Ryan nodded, smiling at Ray before smirking at everyone else. His pulsating eyes made everyone shiver for a moment.

            “Yeah!” Gavin jumped up, pointing excitedly at Ray, “that way Geoffrey and I have an actual chance!” Geoff groaned and Jack patted his shoulder while concealing a laugh.

            “How would this even work?” Michael said, yanking Gavin back into his seat.

            “Whoever scares the others the most wins!” Gavin said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll keep a record, and the other team has to be there to witness you scaring the other one.”

            “I call being with Rye,” Ray said, putting his fingers between the larger ones resting on his knee. Ryan smiled at him and squeezed his fingers.

            “I’ll be with Micoo!” Gavin said, closing the notes function on his phone after typing in their names. Michael rolled his eyes, smiling.

            “That leaves Jack and me, now can we please plan this fucking heist?” Geoff growled, glaring at everyone.

            As soon as the meeting was over, Ray dragged Ryan through the apartment and into their room. The moment the door was closed, Ryan burst out laughing. His human form melting and a skeleton was left with clothes floating off of the white bones.

            “This will be too easy,” Ray smirked, snaking his arms around Ryan’s waist, “we’ll have to make you some new faces.”

            “They don’t even know who they’re really dealing with,” Ryan chuckled, running bone fingers through black hair, “the spirit of Halloween has to win a scare off.”

            “Fuck yeah he does,” Ray snickered, taking Ryan’s hand and pulling him into their bathroom, “alright, goo up.”

            “I hate it when you call it that,” Ryan snorted, sitting on the closed toilet lid. He focused for a moment, regaining his human appearance, except his skin was now multi-colored. “You do one then I’ll do one?”

            “Works for me,” Ray smiled, running his fingers through the clay like material that currently made up Ryan’s face, “just don’t mess up your human form too much.”

            “You still have those pictures, right?” Ryan said, closing his eyes and leaning into Ray’s fingers as he started moving colors and deforming his face. Ray had insisted on taking pictures of Ryan’s face and body after the first time he woke and Ryan had purple skin and a bigger eye than normal. They were tucked away on his phone, even though he printed out larger sizes and told Ryan he deleted them.

            “Yep, they’re in my wallet,” Ray said, giving Ryan some horns. He had no idea he was so artistic until lately.

            “Okay good, I’ll need those,” Ryan said, cracking an eye open, “I don’t want to end up with Gavin’s nose again.”

            “That was fucking funny,” Ray snorted, covering Ryan’s eye with clay, “no peaking!”

            Ryan’s shoulders jumped as he chuckled. He liked the feeling of Ray reforming his face which happened every week or so. His only natural form was when he was a skeleton, all other forms came from his mind. However, because no one sees themselves in their mind as their actual appearance, occasionally Ryan’s form would change and shift.

            Sometimes his eye would be too low on his face or his head would be too small. Other times, he had a massive nose because he was thinking too hard on how Gavin trips because his face is top heavy. Once he woke up with black hair and didn’t notice until Jack told him that he liked his hair die. Ray had to help him make his hair grow back out to blond after that to keep appearances.

            Making monsters was Ryan’s specialty that was why his existed. However, between him and Ray, they had come up with some terrifying creations just for fun. They were going to win this scare off and win whatever ridiculous amount of money the others threw into the betting pot.

            The first to strike wasn’t actually them. Michael and Gavin filled Geoff’s room with plastic snakes. Their boss ran from his room screaming like a small child. He slept into Jack’s room out of pure fear, diving under the sheets on his bed and curling into a shaking ball.

            Ray and Ryan glanced at each other as Michael and Gavin laughed their asses off, giving themselves a point. They shared a smile and a plan formed in both of their brains. They watched the others scare the shit out of each other, Geoff targeting Michael and Gavin out of revenge, mostly.

            Each team tried to scare Ray and Ryan a few times, but none of the attempts were very successful. Ryan was the spirit of Halloween, he had scarier snores. Ray was not only dating the spirit of Halloween, but he could play any horror game with zero fear. They were hard to get so the others eventually gave up, especially after Ray just laughed when a real skeleton smacked him in the face when he opened his bedroom door.

            “Are you two even going to fucking play?” Michael asked them while he was calming Gavin down from a jump scare Geoff had given him.

            “Just wait,” Ray smirked, looking over his DS. Ryan nodded, arm wrapped tightly around Ray’s waist.

            Michael frowned at them and when Gavin calmed down, he told him to give Ray and Ryan a point, just for the creepy smiles.

            The day before Halloween was the deadline for the game. As the others got in some last minute scares, they barely noticed that they hadn’t seen Ray or Ryan at all. Then weird things started to happen.

            First, things started moving on their own. Then knives appearing in walls and too close to some people’s privates. Twice Geoff screeched when he found something was floating or moving around by itself, although no one else believed him until they started seeing the same.

            Around six, when the sky was dark outside, their apartment lost power and they realized that Ray and Ryan were nowhere to be found. “Check the neighbors,” Jack said when Gavin flipped the switch constantly in a panic.

            “Uh guys?” Geoff said, voice cracking, “I can’t open the door.”

            “What?!” Michael snapped, storming over to the door. He grabbed the knob from Geoff’s hand and couldn’t even turn the gold knob. Backing up, he tried slamming into the door, but he bounced off before even touching the door.

            “What the-“ Jack started to say, but the sound of every other door in the penthouse slamming shut, opening again, and slamming shut again cut him off.

            “How the fuck are they doing that?!” Gavin shouted over the noise, clinging to Michael and shaking.

            “Ryan’s some genius, isn’t he?” Geoff shouted back, holding his hands over his ears.

            “That seems a bit mu-“ Jack said before disappearing without so much as a puff of smoke.

            They all froze as the doors stopped slamming shut. Staring at where Jack had once been, all they could hear was their own heart beats.

            They slowly looked at each other with different levels of fear and confusion. Suddenly, Jack’s voice burst from his room. “What the fuck?!”  
            “Jack!” Gavin gasped, pulling Michael after him as he rushed over to the door. He tried to open the door, but, like the front door, couldn’t even turn the handle. “I can’t open the door!”

            “What do you mean you can’t open the door?!” Jack yelled, banging his fists on the door.

            Before anyone could say anything, Jack suddenly yelled and then was very quiet. The door knob turned under Gavin’s hand. He yanked his hand away as they backed away. The door slowly swung open and Jack slowly backed out, eyes wide and hands shaking.

            The others looked to Jack than into the room, all of them freezing in fear. Each of them saw something different. Geoff saw a snake man, head bobbing side to side and hissing, blood dripping from its fangs and mouth. Jack was seeing a dead girl with hollowed out eyes and blood gurgling from her mouth. Gavin saw a puppet with purple tear tracks and a far too happy smile. Michael saw the clown that had ruined circuses for him when he was ten eating a human hand, blood dripping down his face.

            The monster snarled at them and they all screamed, clinging to each other as they ran from the hallway the tried to get the front door to open. All around them felt heavy, their chests tight. Michael tried to charge the door again, but got the same result. There was another hiss and snarl from the creature that was almost in their ears, and they were off running again.

            They bolted for the first room they came too, ripping the door open and slamming it shut so hard that the wood wobbled. As Jack and Michael moved a dresser in front of the door. Gavin turned and screamed, freezing them in their tracks and looking over.

            In the corner of the room was a man dressed in all white. He was holding a bloody knife that was dripped blood into the growing pool on the ground. He turned, showing off eyeless sockets and a crazed smile. On the wall was a body, still breathing, with most of the skin removed and muscles peeling away. Each of them saw their own face on the body as the mouth dropped open and a scream bounced around in their skulls.

            They screamed themselves, looking between their look alike and the man who was raising his knife. The body suddenly dropped to the ground and slowly stood, muscle and blood dropping off of bone.

             _You’re next._ Was hissed to each of them in each other’s voices.

            They screamed and bolted from the room. They turned to go back into the main room, but a green glowing skeleton stood in their way. When it saw them, it laughed with multiple voices. They screamed again and ran further down the hallway and into the first door that opened. Slamming the door shut behind them, they were suddenly encasing in total darkness.

            They all breathed heavily for a moment, trying to calm down. As their breathing eased, they realized that they could only hear themselves.

            “Guys?”

            “Micoo?!”

            “Gavin?!”  
            “JACK?!”

             _Do you want the game to end?_

“YES!”

            “PLEASE!”

            “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

            Gavin just screamed.

            “Think we should, Rye?”

            “Eh, I think they’ve suffered enough.”

            The lights suddenly snapped on. The instant they could see each other, Jack, Geoff, Michael, and Gavin clung to each other and screamed again.

            “Seriously? Nothing’s happening,” Ray snorted, folding his arms and smiling.

            Jack pointed a shaking finger beside Ray and he looked over. Ryan looked back, blue irises floating in black sockets. Ryan was still a skeleton, although he was back in his normal clothing.

            “Oh, Rye, you’re still Skelator,” Ray said, frowning at Ryan.

            “Oh?” Ryan said, making the others flinch at his multiple voices. He looked down at his hands and snorted. “Oops.”       

            “Go change big guy,” Ray chuckled, pushing Ryan toward their bathroom. Once the door closed he looked at the others and smiled at them. “So, who won the scare off?”

            No one questioned what happened that night. No one asked how they did anything, no one asked how they made the costumes. In fact, they never wanted to speak about Halloween or horror or Ryan as a skeleton again. Ray and Ryan won the money and Gavin never suggested a scare off for Halloween ever again.

 

* * *

 

The heists were supposed to be easy. They were just going to ‘trick or treat’ at a few convenience stores, rob them blind and eat some candy along the way, but Gavin just had to run into gang territory.

            The shootout had started out simple. There weren’t that many of them, nothing Ryan couldn’t handle by himself, then every other gang in the city decided to join in. Now they were under heavy fire, all of them but Ryan had some sort of injury.

            However, Ryan didn’t care about any of that. Time wasn’t actually moving for him as he watched Ray fall, a bullet went right through his stomach. Ryan was shaking, his eyes glowing as his clay skin melted.

            “Holy fuck!” Geoff gasped, falling away from Ryan as he turned and saw the skeleton man. He started to panic, remembering last year’s Halloween.

            Ryan’s rib cage expanded and contrasted rapidly despite the fact that he didn’t need to breathe or had to the lungs to do so. Green light started to glow from under his feet, the ground cracking, and eerie green light shining through.

            “Ray!” he shouted, bursting from where he was hiding from the rain of metal. As he pushed off of the ground, the cracks raced across the ground with a loud bang and a rumble. The fighting stopped as everyone tried to maintain their balance. A few screamed when they saw Ryan dropping to his knees next to Ray, pulling the young man to him.

            “Ray!” Ryan gasped, cradling Ray to his chest. He placed his bleach finger bones over the gushing blood from Ray’s stomach, turning the white to pink.

            “Rye,” Ray coughed up more blood, the red dripping from his lips. He smiled shakily up at Ryan, teeth stained pink.

            Ryan held Ray tighter. Never had he seen Ray go down. The younger man was always so careful. Black sludge dripped and blue light filled his eyes sockets. He didn’t notice that his energy was slowly repairing Ray’s wound. He was just filled with a tremendous rage.

            A shot rang out, the bullet rocketing toward Ryan’s skull. His head snapped toward the bullet, freezing the metal pellet in time. “You’re messing with the wrong god,” he snarled, the bullet turning around and rocketing faster than the speed of sound back toward the shooter.

            All of the humans watched the man nearly explode on impact, turning to look at Ryan in fear. A few screamed as rotting hands burst from the ground below them and grabbed their ankles.

            “You’ll pay for this!” Ryan roared, his multiple voices echoing painfully in everyone’s minds. The Fake AH Crew watched in horror as each gang member died to their worst nightmare. They were screaming in fear and gurgling blood. Suddenly the events of last Halloween made too much sense.

            The crew was huddled together on a patch of Earth that wasn’t effected by the light and cracks. Some gang members tried to reach them, but they would disintegrate before even getting close.

            Ryan sat in the middle of the mess, cradling Ray to his chest. The world rippled with his softs sobs for Ray to stay alive. Ray’s arms slowly wrapped around him, holding him tightly.

            When nothing was left of the gangs and the light had faded away, Geoff and Jack cautiously approached Ray and Ryan while Michael and Gavin stayed back, shaking. Ray was sitting up in the fading green light surrounding him, hugging Ryan’s head to his chest and speaking softly to him. Ryan held Ray as tightly as he could without hurting him.

            “Jesus Christ.” Jack whispered, glancing at Geoff.

            Geoff suppressed a shudder as he walked over to them and placed a hand on Ray’s shoulder.

            Ray smiled sheepishly up at Geoff, running his fingers over Ryan’s skull. “It’ll be okay,” he said, resting his cheek on Ryan’s head, “he’ll be okay.”

            “You’re explaining when we get back,” Geoff sighed, glancing around at the carnage Ryan had created. The cars and some people in the area were nothing but ash. The cracks in the ground went for miles.

            “Not much to it,” Ray said, pulling Ryan to stand, the skeleton’s arms were still tight around him, “he’s the spirit of Halloween.”

            Geoff and Jack glanced at each other before Geoff groaned and rubbed his temples. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

            Ray laughed lightly, pulling Ryan to walk with him. Michael and Gavin didn’t even speak as they passed, eyes wide and both shaking. Gavin was hiding behind Michael as the shorter man tried to stand his ground.

            “Are you going to be okay, X-Ray?” Gavin said with a shaky voice. He was clinging to Michael’s shoulders.

            Ray smiled back at them and nodded. “We’ll be in our private apartment for a while,” he said before they disappeared with a green flash.

 

* * *

 

            Ryan sobbed and dropped to the ground when they appeared in their cabin. Ray dropped with him, holding him tightly as black sludge continued to pour from his eye sockets. Every time the goop would land on him, he would be burned before the sludge would disappear.

            Ryan’s fingers were tearing Ray’s clothes as he curled his sharp fingers into the fabric. The pink stained bones would dig into his skin and beads of blood clung to his skin.

            “Rye, hey,” Ray said softly, holding Ryan tighter, “I’m okay, it’s okay.”

            Ryan gasped and sobbed, slowly looking up at Ray. He looked down at Ray’s stomach then at the black burns on Ray’s legs. He slowly pulled his fingers from Ray’s skin, pressing his palm against the bleeding wounds and the other against the burns.

            Ray frowned and watched as Ryan healed his skin, the black sludge still dripping from his eye sockets but disappearing before getting too close to Ray. When Ray’s skin was healed and his clothes repaired, Ryan looked up and gently cupped Ray’s cheeks.

            Ray smiled and grabbed Ryan’s hands and squeezed them lightly. “I’m okay. You’re okay,” he said softly, pressing their foreheads together.

            Ryan sobbed and gasped, nodding numbly. The light in his eyes faded away, but his body continued to heave with lessening sobs. Ray closed his eyes and rubbed his thumb over Ryan’s finger bones.

            Ryan slowly calmed down letting Ray dropped their hands between them. His orbs lit up again and he freed a hand to wipe away black sludge still clinging to his skull.

            “I’m sorry,” Ryan rasped, dropping his hand into Ray’s again.

            “It’s okay,” Ray said softly, smiling at Ryan, “you’re okay.”

            Ryan nodded, hesitantly reforming his human face. Once the clay was solid, Ray kissed Ryan softly before pressing kisses all over his face. Ryan laughed wetly, cupping Ray’s cheek and kissing him again.

            “I don’t think I could ever see you fall again,” Ryan sighed, closing his eyes.

            Ray frowned and hugged Ryan tightly. There was nothing for him to say and Ryan didn’t want him to say what they both knew so he didn’t. He just pulled him up the stairs and onto a bed. They cuddled as Ryan feel into a sleep like state. His eyes were glowing, but they were pulsating slowly.

            Ray ran his fingers over Ryan’s skull as his clay skin melted away. He curled around Ryan’s head and squeezed his eyes shut.

 

* * *

 

            Ryan didn’t talk about what happened, didn’t even want to think about what could have been and what was. Ray pressed that they should, but Ryan would either disappear or hold him tightly while crying black sludge and they never got anywhere.

            The crew kept their distance for a while, which didn’t help. They were all afraid. Sometimes they relived the night that ruined Halloween for all of them in their dreams. Jack approached Ryan first, before Ray and Ryan could disappear to their room after coming back from stealing from multiple gas stations.

            “Hey,” Jack said softly, smiling at the both of them, “how’d everything go?”

            Ray narrowed his eyes. He had told them over and over again that Ryan needed them, that he would never actually hurt them. He was angry, probably always would be.

            “Fine,” Ryan said quickly, grinning at Jack. His eyes glowed a bit brighter, then he suddenly fell, wincing more than smiling. “Just fine.”

            Jack frowned and gave Ray a pleading look, but he just folded his arms, tilting his head towards Ryan who was looking at his feet. “Ryan, I’m sorry,” Jack sighed, raising his arms, unsure what to do with them, before dropping them to his sides in defeat, “we were just, afraid.”

            “Everyone is,” Ryan shrugged with a tired smile. He turned and disappeared into his and Ray’s room.

            Ray sighed after him, turning to Jack with a frown. “Thanks, better than fucking nothing,” he huffed, turning on his heels. He paused when Jack grabbed his arm.

            “Look, I know you’re pissed at us, but we can’t just accept this shit like you can,” Jack huffed, letting his arm go.

            Ray folded his arms and glared at Jack. “Ryan is still Ryan. I get that its fucking weird and shit, but to completely ignore him? He doesn’t deserve that.”

            Jack winced and glanced at the door Ryan disappeared behind. He looked exhausted. His face dragged and he looked years older than what they were used to. He walked sluggishly and avoided even touching the same furniture as any of them.

            Ray sighed and shook his head, going to his room and closing the door. Somehow the lock clicking echoed through the apartment. Jack frowned and looked over at the others who were watching. Gavin looked pale with guilt while Geoff looked down at his half-full glass of whisky. Michael had his arms folded and eyes glazed over before suddenly standing.

            They watched him walk over to the door and pound on the wood until the lock turned and Ray threw the door open. “What the fuck?” Ray snapped, glaring at Michael.

            Michael frowned at Ray before leaning around him to look at Ryan sitting on the bed. His skin looked to be melting off, and he was trying to hold everything in place with his hands, but that seemed to just mess everything up more.

            “Games?” Michael said over Ray’s shoulder right at Ryan.

            Ryan’s head snapped to him, eyes completely blue as his skin sluffed off, disappearing before landing on the bed. Ray looking at Michael surprised before turning to look at Ryan.

            “Me?” Ryan said carefully, letting his hands drop. His skin disappeared, leaving only bone. The blue light completely filled his eye sockets.

            “Yeah, you.” Michael snorted, folding his arms. “Who else is going to make Ray pull his bull shit skill by being on our team?”  
            “Hey!” Ray snorted, lightly punching Michael’s arm, “I do not pull my skills.”

            “I shot you twice last time,” Michael grinned before looking back at Ryan, “coming?”  
            Ryan opened his mouth then snapped his jaws closed. “I-just give me a moment,” he said, shuffling off of the bed, “I-it’s hard to hold a form right now.”

            “Whatever,” Michael shrugged, smiling at Ryan, “you can play with bone fingers, can’t you?”

            Ray bit his lip to keep from grinning too much as he looked at Ryan and held his hand out. Ryan looked between them before carefully nodding and shuffling forward. He let Ray pull him into the living room and made him sit on the couch.

            There was silence as Michael set up the game and everyone avoided looking at each other. Except Ray who glared at anyone to say something, at least. Michael looked over his shoulder and snorted. “I’m not being on a team with Gavin.”

            “Wot?!” Gavin squawked, pouting at Michael, “but Micoo!”

            Quietly everyone echoed ‘Micoo’ in their best and worst impressions of Gavin. Michael laughed as Gavin pouted at all of them. When he came to Ryan, he hesitated then forced a smile.

            “Ryan will be on my team!” Gavin said, puffing up his chest, “right, Rye-Bread?”

            Ryan’s head snapped up and he looked at Gavin for a moment before tilting his head to the side. “I don’t want to be blown up though,” he said awkwardly, as if waiting for them to start yelling at him.

            Gavin’s jaw dropped and Michael laughed. Jack and Geoff held back loud laughter, shaking with chuckles. Ray snorted and grinned at Ryan who honestly smiled back.

            Once Michael had both X-Boxes hooked up to their TVs and ready to go, he tossed everyone their controllers. Ryan caught his with ease, but the sound of bone hitting plastic made all of their teeth hurt.

            As Gavin blew Michael up, because of course they were teamed up, and Geoff and Jack laughed and tried to play but kept fucking up, and Ray and Ryan were actually doing the mission they were given, Ryan was talking, he was smiling, he was happy. Ray leaned against his side while the others talked and joked with him. He eventually recreated his face as the night wore on and they moved from games to bad movies.

            “You haven’t seen Bad Girls?” Geoff gasped, leaning back holding his chest, “we’re watching it!”

            “He hasn’t seen Plan 9 from Outer Space either,” Ray said, smirking when everyone gave Ryan a horrified look.

            A series of ‘are you fucking serious?’ and ‘Ryan, you poor soul!’ filled the room as Ryan shot Ray an amused grin. Ray shrugged and leaned up to kiss Ryan’s nose as the others argued over what shitty movie they needed to watch first.

            Around five in the morning, the entire crew was asleep. Michael and Gavin were piled on top of each other while Geoff and Jack held each other up. Ray had curled into a ball in Ryan’s lap, smiling in his sleep.

            Ryan smiled, looking at each of them. He felt warm again, he felt human again. All thoughts of what he would do if they were to die left him alone. He was happy.

 

* * *

 

            “I’m bringing in a new guy,” Geoff declared at the beginning of a heist meeting.

            The crew looked up at him skeptically, pausing what they were doing. Michael was going to poke Gavin who was trying to stop him. Jack slowly set his pencil down on his notepad. Ray paused his game, frowning and glancing at Ryan. Ryan’s eyes were wide and pulsating.

            Geoff grinned at each of them, arms folded, “he’s a good man, good planner, sniper, killer, explosive expert, pilot. We need him on our side.”

            “Trying to replace us Geoff?” Michael snorted, eyes narrowed.

            “Never.” Geoff scoffed, frowning at Michael, “he’s just too good to let go. If some other crew got to him we’d be in trouble. Luckily for us, he’s ecstatic to be working with us.”

            Ryan’s fingers curled into his pants as he stared at Geoff. Ray frowned and placed his hand over one of Ryan’s, smiling softly at him. “It’s alright, big guy,” Ray said, leaning up to kiss Ryan’s cheek, “you’re okay.”

            Ryan nodded numbly, clinging to Ray’s hand. Jack frowned at them, nudging Geoff’s side and nodding toward them. Geoff looked at Ryan and grinned. Leaning forward, he grabbed Ryan’s shoulder and squeeze. “He’ll be fine with you.”

            Ryan stared at Geoff for a moment before relaxing and smiling. He nodded and Geoff let go of his shoulder. The meeting didn’t go as planned, they rarely did. Michael and Gavin asked too many questions while Geoff got distracted by their bickering. Jack got them on track a few times while Ray and Ryan were happy with just watching the show.

            The next day, there was a knock on the penthouse door. All of them, except for Geoff, gabbed the nearest weapon. Geoff chuckled and walked over to the door. He turned the knob and opened the door, revealing a short man with a close cut beard and a bright grin.

            “Hey Jeremy,” Geoff said, nodding for the man to enter the penthouse.

            “Hey Geoff!” Jeremy said, stepping in and looking around, “thanks for the opportunity.”

            “No problem, kid,” Geoff chuckled, ruffling Jeremy’s short hair.

            Everyone slowly relaxed. Ray let go of his knife, snapping his DS closed. He jumped when Ryan started laughing beside him. The entire room turned to look at him. His head was in his hands as he hunched over and shook with laughter.

            They jumped again when Jeremy started laughing as well. Geoff frowned down at him as he doubled over, holding his stomach. “Alright, what the fuck?” Michael said, looking between Ryan and Jeremy as they calmed and Ryan stood.

            “Hey man, I thought you died!” Jeremy grinned, offering Ryan his hand when he got closer.

            “I technically did,” Ryan shrugged, shaking Jeremy’s hand, “I’m not surprised to see you still kicking.”  
            The rest of the crew looked at each other confused as Jeremy narrowed his eyes at Ryan before snorting. “Wait, what the fuck happened to your voice?” he said, letting Ryan’s hand go.

            “Long story,” Ryan said, letting his skin melt away. Jeremy coughed hard, almost choking. “I’m guessing you remember then?”  
            “Of course I fucking do!” Jeremy rasped, grabbing Ryan’s hand again and looking at his fingers, “you called me in to look at a fucking skeleton. What the hell happened to you?”

            Ryan opened his jaws to speak, but Michael coughing hard stopped him. He turned to look at the crew who were still staring at them in confusion. “Oh, I know Jeremy,” he said, smiling sheepishly.

            “Fucking obviously,” Michael grumbled, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes, “how?”

            “We were friend’s way back when,” Jeremy said, coming to stand beside Ryan.

            “Way back, _when,_ exactly?” Jack said with a frown. He stood slowly from the couch, looking between Ryan and Jeremy.

            “1770s? I think?” Jeremy shrugged, looking at Ryan who shook his head, “what, you don’t remember?”

            “I don’t remember a lot of who I once was,” Ryan said, glancing at Ray who was just looking between them, stiff and frowning. Reforming his face, he went over and wrapped his arm around Ray’s waist, tugging him over to Jeremy.

            Jeremy looked between them before grinning. “Some shit doesn’t change though, huh?” he said, offering Ray his hand.

            “I suppose?” Ryan said, smiling when Ray shook Jeremy’s hand stiffly, “you know more about that than I do.”

            Jeremy frowned, but before he could speak, Geoff grabbed his shoulders tightly. “Will someone please explain?” he groaned, shooting Jeremy a glare.

            “Oh, I’m a Wiccan,” Jeremy shrugged, grinning as Geoff gave him a tired look and Gavin squawked.

            “A Wiccan? Those exist?!” Gavin gasped, looking at Jeremy with wide eyes.

            “Ryan’s a fucking skeleton, and that’s what you can’t believe?” Michael snorted, elbowing Gavin’s side.

            “A Wiccan that accidentally turned himself immortal,” Ryan said, smirking at Jeremy.

            “Hey, I blame you for that,” Jeremy huffed, pointing at Ryan, “I was trying to help you with the skeleton when that happened.”

            “Is that how that worked?” Ryan said, tilting his head to the side.

            Jeremy frowned again, letting his arms fall to his sides. “Why can’t you remember anything?”

            Ryan shrugged and Ray sighed, shaking his head. Geoff had long since left to go get more whisky with Jack. “Rye said something about memories fogging after a certain numbers of years passed,” Ray said, leaning into Ryan’s side when he stared rubbing his side.

            “Huh, weird,” Jeremy said, narrowing his eyes and rubbing his chin.

            “Yeah, that’s the weird thing,” Michael said, standing and heading toward the kitchen. None of them were drunk enough for this shit.

           

* * *

 

            Ray looked between Jeremy and Ryan as they spoke rapidly in Latin. He had no idea what they were talking about, some words sounded similar, but they would be on the next sentence by the time he realized what the worded sounded like. After Jeremy was probably introduced to everyone on the crew, Ryan dragged both him and Ray to their room.

            Ray sighed from the headboard, dead DS dangling from his fingers. Ryan and Jeremy were sitting on the edge of the bed. Jeremy looked lost in thought as he listened to something Ryan was saying. Ryan looked excited, eyes glowing brightly.

            Ray sighed and looked at his lap. He felt out of the loop and a little at a loss. Jeremy had Ryan’s memories, he knew him before he was a skeleton. Something about all of that didn’t sit right with Ray. He didn’t even know why Ryan dragged him in here with them.

            “Ray?”

            Ray jumped and looked up at Ryan who was smiling brilliantly at him. “Sorry, what?” Ray said, forcing a smile.

            Ryan’s brows furrowed as Jeremy smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry for the Latin, it’s just how we used to communicate.”

            “It’s fine,” Ray shrugged, pulling himself closer, “so, what’s up?”  
            “I was asking Jeremy for the spell that turned him immortal,” Ryan said carefully, still frowning at Ray, “He can modify it to work on other people.”

            “Yep, it won’t be a problem at all,” Jeremy nodded, folding his arms, “I can have you and the crew immortal before the end of the week.”        

            “What?” Ray said, looking at Jeremy wide eyed before snapping his head to Ryan, “ _What_?”

            Ryan sighed and looked at his lap. “I, after almost losing you, I- I don’t think I could stand actually losing you or the others. I can’t keep you alive forever.” He looked hopefully up at Ray. “But if Jeremy could make you immortal, no one would have to lose anyone.”

            Ray felt his chest tighten and his mouth go dry. He just stared at Ryan, eyes so wide they could fall out of his skull. Ryan frowned and Jeremy shifted awkwardly. Whispering something to Ryan in Latin, Jeremy scurried out of the room and closed the door behind him.

            “Ray? What’s wrong?” Ryan said, carefully reaching out and taking Ray’s hands.

            Ray blinked slowly at Ryan, mind still reeling. He had never thought about dying. In his line of work, he was surrounded by death and could die at every turn. He didn’t think about losing his life because he would make himself insane doing that. He knew he couldn’t live forever, so he didn’t think about that either.

            To actually be immortal, he was struggling to wrap his mind around that. What would that be like? Could he still get hurt? Could he still theoretically die? Would he be torn to pieces and still manage to live? Was that what he wanted?

            Ray’s eyes focused on Ryan’s. His eyes were completely blue and panicked, mouth going a mile a minute in words Ray couldn’t understand. His face was slowly starting to melt, skin dripping off of his chin and disappearing before landing.

            Ray slipped his hands from Ryan’s, making him freeze, mouth open. Reaching up, he cupped Ryan’s melting cheeks, feeling the skin solidify under his fingers as Ryan looked at him. Darkness was leaking into Ryan’s eyes, the black sludge welling as Ray smiled slowly at him.

            “Sorry, just. Give me a moment,” Ray said softly, chuckling when Ryan nodded, reaching up to cling to Ray’s hands.

            Ray smiled at him, watching him calm and solidify his face again. Eternity with the people who were his home and the man he loved with everything he was. Eternity never seeing Ryan fall to pieces over his death again. Eternity to do whatever the fuck he wanted. The _things_ they could do.

            He may lose his memory of the past like Ryan, he might go insane, but Jeremy seemed fine. He wondered if he could use magic too. Being a wizard or something sounded fucking amazing. Accidentally turning oneself immortal? Sign him the fuck up. What a happy accident.

            Ray looked at Ryan again, felt him shake as he tried to keep himself together. “Together with you and those morons for all of eternity?” Ray said softly, leaning forward to press their foreheads together, “sign me the fuck up.”

            Ryan’s eyes widened before he laughed and wrapped Ray up in a tight hug. He peppered his face with kissed. “I love you,” Ryan breathed, pulling back.

            “I love you too,” Ray sighed, smiling at Ryan. He yelped when Ryan suddenly pinned him to the bed, pressing kisses against his neck, fingers slipping under his shirt.

            Ray shudder, glancing down to see Ryan’s eyes back to normal, such a loving look plastered to his face. Moaning, he let his head drop back onto the bed, tangling his fingers in Ryan’s hair and tugging him into a fierce kiss.

 

* * *

 

            “You couldn’t have made this circle a little bigger?” Geoff grumbled, wobbling on his toes as he held on tightly to Jack.

            “Yeah, probably,” Jeremy shrugged, looking down at an old leather bound book in his hand, “don’t smudge the lines.”

            “Little fucking hard!” Michael growled, wrapping his arm around Gavin’s waist to keep him from falling over.

            “Micco!” Gavin gasped, cling to Michael.

            “I can’t breathe,” Ray puffed, smooshed between everyone.

            “Sorry, Ray,” Jack sighed, leaning closer to him to keep Geoff from dragging the both of them out of the circle. This was their third try at the spell. Someone had kept messing the lines up before.

            Ryan chuckled next to Jeremy, shaking his head. A large, detailed circle drawn in a green powder snaked over the roof of the penthouse. At the center was the entire crew, wobbling from side to side to try and stay upright. Jeremy had modified the spell to make the entire crew immortal in one go instead of one at a time.

            “Alright, everyone ready?” Jeremy said, looking up from the yellowing pages of his spell book.

            “Get a fucking move on!” Geoff snapped, glaring at Jeremy over everyone’s head.

            Jeremy and Ryan laughed, stepping back. Jeremy began to speak rapidly in a dead language even Ryan didn’t know. Between Michael and Gavin’s shoulders, Ryan could see Ray smiling sheepishly at him before green light burst from the delicate lines.

            “Finally,” Jeremy panted, snapping the book closed. He had heavy bags under his eyes from the failures snapping the power back at him. If he wasn’t immoral, he would be dead by now.

            Ryan smiled as the light brightened then faded. When the light was finally gone, the circle was gone, as though never existing in the first place. The crew was still huddled together, eyes glowing green.

            Once their eyes returned to their normal colors, they fell apart and on top of each other.

            “Get the fuck off, Gavin!” Michael snapped, pushing Gavin’s boney ass off of his crotch.

            Gavin squawked and fell back onto Geoff who groaned, trying to free his legs from under Jack.

            “Jack, you’re crushing me,” Ray gasped, wiggling under Jack who was half on his chest.

            “Oh, shit, sorry Ray!” Jack gasped, jumping to his feet. Ryan ran over as Jeremy sat down to catch his breath.

            He helped Ray up as Jack helped Gavin then Geoff, Michael brushing himself off. “How do you feel?” Ryan said, wrapping his arm around Ray’s waist.

            “Like nothing happened?” Ray shrugged, looking down at himself.

            “How do we know it worked?” Jack said as Geoff dusted himself.

            “Well, you could shoot each other,” Jeremy said, slowly pushing himself back onto his feet.

            The crew paused, glancing at each other. Ryan’s arm wrapped around Ray’s waist, eyes narrowed. Michael pulled his gun first, shooting Gavin right between the eyes. Everyone watched him fall, lay still for a long moment, before picking his head up with a dazed look. “Micoo!” he whined, pouting as Michael laughed. Blood stained his skin, but the hole in his head was gone as though never having existed in the first place.

            “You’re alive,” Michael laughed, holding his hand out to Gavin.

            “And there you have it,” Jeremy said with a grin, yelping when Gavin dived behind him to hide from Michael.

            Geoff and Jack laughed as Michael chased Gavin around Jeremy who was laughing too hard to help. Ray and Ryan rolled their eyes, grinning at their family. Ray looked up at Ryan, studying his smile and bright eyes.

            Smiling, he leaned up and kissed Ryan’s cheek. Ryan blinked and looked down at him with a goofy grin, kissing his nose just to hear him laugh.

            They would be okay.


	2. DO NOT READ IF YOU LIKE HOW THE FIRST CHAPTER ENDED (If you want pain, then go ahead)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the true ending of the story, someone suggested that I do it this way because it's a little dissatisfying if the ending is so sad. So if you liked how the story ended, don't read. If you want to know the true ending, then go for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!

            Ryan smiled distantly at him, holding his hand out. Ray forced a smile and took his hand. Ryan pulled him close and held him tightly. Ray wrapped his arms around him and closed his eyes.

            Ryan wouldn’t remember later, wouldn’t even think that he was capable of such a thing. No one would say anything either. Although their blood was soaking the ground. When they woke up, they would act like nothing happened.

            Jeremy said that eventually Ryan wouldn’t exist anymore. All that would be left would be the skeleton Ryan destroyed all those years ago.

            “Ray? Why am I crying?” Ryan rasped, pressing his face into Ray’s shoulder, “what’s going on?”  
            Ray felt his eyes and nose burn. “It’s okay Rye, you’re okay,” he whispered, holding Ryan tighter.

            Ryan nodded against him, holding him tighter. Ray let his own tears fall, squeezing his eyes tightly. He didn’t know if he could go through eternity without Ryan when the time came, but for right now.

            They would be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Go onto Chapter Two if you want to feel pain.


End file.
